


Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon

by kakawot



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Auror Harry Potter, Creative interpretations of magic, Crossover, Drinking & Talking, Gen, Mild Gore, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Quidditch, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2018-12-18 19:16:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 83,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11881062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakawot/pseuds/kakawot
Summary: When the Ministry of Magic rips Toothless and Hiccup from their time in an effort to study Alphas, they wind up at Hogwarts in 2018 and have to find a way past both the Ministry and a moody time-traveling dragon in order to get home. Meanwhile Charlie gets to ride a dragon and Hagrid knits sweaters for the poor lost flock of Nadders turning up on his doorstep. McGonagall is not pleased.





	1. Chapter 1

Even enchanted light doesn't reach far into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. The trees seem to suck the glow from the lantern, obfuscating whispering shades behind ferns and bushes.

Hagrid only spots the hill of black because the animal moves. If it had lain still, the groundskeeper would have walked right past. He might have wondered about the broken branches scattered around come daylight, but he would've found an empty spot. But the animal stretches before settling deeper into the turf, its eyes kept closed. 

Hagrid creeps closer, used to maneuvering his giant bulk silently through the forest. Could it be?

The dragon is small, far smaller than the ones Hagrid likes. Its hide is pure black and it lacks the horns and spikes, but it's undeniably a dragon. A hurt dragon, he amends when he sees the tear in the wing of the magnificent beast. 

What is even stranger than the presence of this baby dragon of an unknown kind is the fact that someone has cleaned and bandaged the wound. There's no shine of blood, no self-inflicted cauterization of the wound. Instead fern leaves are wrapped around the wing, keeping a dressing pressed against the ragged edges. 

Embers glow on the ground, stemming from a fire surrounded by thick logs. They barely give off warmth anymore, but the fire is set up far too delicately for a dragon to have made it. 

Something alerts the dragon and its head jerks up, its pupils constricting in the lantern light. The dragon lowers its head, lays its huge ears back and growls at Hagrid. Its voice is lower than that of a baby dragon. Also, Hagrid is in mortal danger. If it flames, there's little he can hide behind. And at this distance he’ll be incinerated before he can reach for his crossbow. Not that he wants to hurt the dragon - it's already sad to see that it has gotten injured somehow.

The dragon coils tighter against something hidden beneath his injured wing. The something makes a noise of protest and a human hand appears over the dragon's hind leg.

Alarm bells take over Hagrid's mind. Has the dragon taken a student? 

The head that pops up belongs to someone well past a student's age, though. The guy looks uninjured as he works himself to his feet, standing inside the curve of the dragon's wings and its hind legs. He raises an arm clad in leather armor to shield his eyes against the lantern light.

“Hello?” he says, stepping over the leg. The dragon keeps on growling and gets to its feet as well, hunkered down and ready to pounce.

“Hold on, Toothless,” the young man says, extending a hand backwards. “Who are you?”

Hagrid dims the light a bit and the guy lowers his hand. “I'm Hagrid, groundskeeper and teacher at Hogwarts. What are you doing all the way out in the Forbidden Forest with an injured dragon?”

The young man is small, but the leather armor he wears makes him seem prepared and capable. He looks apprehensive but he has to be a great wizard, because the threatening dragon behind him bares its teeth though it listens to the man's non-verbal spell. 

“My name is Hiccup, this is Toothless. And if I had any choice in the matter I would've not been here in this... Forbidden Forest. Oh, and don't kill Toothless, dragons are just misunderstood and this guy's my best friend.”

The guy tenses up when Hagrid laughs. “I would never kill a dragon!” he says and extends his hand to shake Hiccup's. “C'mon, follow me and I can get you and your dragon something to eat and some bandages instead of fern leaves.” 

Hiccup and Toothless look at each other as if to gauge the half-giant's trustworthiness. Hiccup only steps forward when Toothless lowers its hackles and sits back on its haunches. This master wizard doesn't use mind control if he follows the dragon's cues; it seems more like a partnership. 

“How'd you find yourself accidentally visiting the Forbidden Forest?” Hagrid asks. Hiccup hustles to keep up with Hagrid. His gait looks a bit off but he keeps up well enough. Not injured himself, then.

“Well,” Hiccup begins, “I'm not sure, but I definitely know I've left Berk a long way behind.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is finished so I'll post chapters after I've put them through the final edit. 
> 
> Also, I'm ESL, so please tell me if any sentences rub you the wrong way.

The room they find themselves in materializes around them so abruptly Toothless has to turn so tight that he almost dislodges his rider. When he’s no longer threatened by death by wall he can fly alongside it. And it’s huge. The village of Berk can easily fit into this room three times over.

But to a Night Fury at top speed this is nothing to traverse. All too soon the opposite wall looms and the dragon gives an annoyed roar. They'd been flying with the sunset as backdrop, not a dark room with black walls lit by blue torches placed at strategic intervals. The room feels wrong, like reality has been stretched thin to accommodate the space this room requires. Torches also don’t give off blue fire in Toothless' expert opinion on all things inflammable. He doesn't like being shut indoors. There are no windows, no daylight, no direction to flee in.

Something red shoots past his left wing and Toothless spots human figures running about far below, moving cooperatively like fish in a school. More red streaks slip past while Toothless enters a zigzag pattern. His rider feels where Toothless wants to go and together they avoid the missiles.

“Try not to harm them,” Hiccup instructs before they go on the offense.

Plasma gathers in Toothless' throat and he lets loose once they're in range. There are maybe fifty people gathered below and they scatter when they can't stand the heat of the moment.

Toothless spots a door behind the veritable army of red-slinging humans. Maybe open skies lie beyond that door. It’s worth a shot, because Toothless knows he’s going to get hit sooner or later in these tight quarters.

The Night Fury uses every athletic trick in his arsenal to bounce off the walls, the floor, trying to clear a path to the door. Hiccup begins to pant - he has to work hard to keep his grip and work the tail, flowing with Toothless' erratic movements.

Toothless throws two parallel blasts near the door and they now have a clear landing zone. He hits the ground as close to the door as he dares and rushes over, turning his head and using his mass centered in his shoulder to bust through.

The stone around the door cracks from the force, but the small dragon bounces ungracefully back. He’s dazed for a second, but that’s a second too long. Hiccup slumps on his back and dangles lifelessly in the harness.

Toothless whines in distress but he can do nothing for his rider at the moment. Movement behind the flames distracts him. The humans put out the fire with water sprouting from small sticks. They’re cloaked and look dangerous in the unnatural blue light, highlighting their focused expressions and threatening stance.

The dragon growls and jumps into the air. Even without Hiccup's assistance he can jump high enough to clear an adult human male - maybe there’s another door, if he can just get past these foes. At least fourteen jets of red pierce his hide at his flank. His tough skin resists for a second, but finally they bore inside and lock up his muscles. He slides forward on unresponsive legs and tries not to roll over so he won't crush his best friend.

It’s the last act of consciousness.

* * *

At least he still has his pants and undershirt, although his captors have taken pretty much everything else. Hiccup looks down his body and fury blossoms. They've even taken his leg!

The room is made of the same dark material and lit by the same eerie blue torches. He lies on a metal-framed cot with a hard mattress. There’s a single door - locked, no doubt.

Whoever wanted to take Toothless, they've gone all-out.

Hiccup has no idea yet how he’s going to talk his way out, break out if necessary, free his friend and get home, but not even an army is going to stop him. He’s chief of Berk. That has to count for something, right?

Hiccup swings his legs onto the ground and wobbles when he gets up. He’s never learned how to walk without his prosthetic, so he hops awkwardly over to the door. It never hurts to try, but the door is firmly locked.

“Hey!” he shouts. “What's your deal?” Hiccup leans against the wall and yells. “Whatever you want from us - don't harm that dragon! He's my friend and he's friendly... when you're not trying to kill him! Let me out!” He bangs his fist against the door, giving off a nice reverberation. “You can't just lock us up, we didn't do anything wr-”

The door swings inwards open and admits a stern-looking woman in long black robes. Her greying hair is short, cut like a man's and she stands an inch taller than Hiccup. He takes a step back when she enters his personal space and frowns up at her.

“My name is Mrs. Daydew. I'm with the Department of Mysteries. Would you care for some pumpkin juice?”

She holds out a cup filled with orange liquid and while Hiccup has a dry mouth, he shakes his head.

“No thanks, I usually don't accept drinks from strangers who have kidnapped me and stripped me of my leg.”

Mrs. Daydew's eyes shoot to the stump peeking out from underneath his pants, which end mid-calf. She tuts and reaches into the folds of her robes. She gets a wooden stick out and points it at the door.

“Accio prosthetic,” she says, as if she expects the thing to magically appear in her hands. It doesn't appear, but it does float across the threshold and into her waiting hands.

“What just happened?” Hiccup asks, nonetheless he accepts his prosthetic and hops over to the cot to strap it on. It really is his fake metal leg, down to the left-spiraling whorls in the wood. “How'd you make it float?” he asks, but Mrs. Daydew doesn't answer his questions. Instead, she asks him a few of her own.

“What's your name?”

Hiccup stands up so this exchange feels a little more equal and answers: “Hiccup Haddock the third from the Hairy Hooligan tribe.”

The words come a little too quickly and worry gnaws at his belly, atop the stress of finding himself without Toothless in a strange environment with humans capable of bringing down a dragon with red light. What has this woman done to him?

“Where are you from?”

“Berk,” he immediately shoots back. Again, too fast.

“That dragon...” Mrs. Daydew involuntarily looks a bit to the right. So they keep Toothless somewhere to the right of this room, that’s good to know. “What species is it?”

“He's a Night Fury.”

Hiccup feels a strange sort of calm overtaking him, easing away the anxiety munching at his mind. He can answer these questions, he’s good at talking. This woman deserves to know the truth, she’s kind enough to give him back his leg and bring him something to drink.

“Where did you find it?”

His mind races back to that day, the day which had started out as any other, but would become so fateful. He tells the woman about the cove, describes in detail how the Night Fury tried to scramble up the walls but failed every time, how the rocks formed the perfect prison for this mighty beast.

“How did you tame it? What spells did you use?”

Spells? Like, seidr? The mythical rituals which belong to women like Gothi, although even she is not a true seidr-practitioner. There are roaming women in the archipelago and they create good fortune and a rich harvest in exchange for food and shelter. Those are the true seidr-practitioners. In Hiccup's lifetime there has never been a seidr woman on Berk, though. If Mrs. Daydew is one, she is one of the most powerful ones around. Hiccup has heard tales around the campfire, mostly involving curses. But this woman can make things float, and apparently force him to tell the truth.

A low-level warning signal clears away some of this strange calm feeling. Seidr, magic, was often used for good in the legends, but there were also numerous dark sorcerers, witches, taking away lives or twisting them into unrecognizable demons. Dark magic, black magic, and it landed Loki in a lot of hot water over the course of the years.

“I didn't use any spells, why would I? I'm a man, I don't perform seidr. You are, and there's nothing wrong with that, especially because you're a woman, but I just... became friends with my dragon. No spells or potions required.” He leans conspiratorially forward. “That's the big secret. You have to treat dragons with respect and friendship and you'll have their loyalty. As long as you keep doing that, of course, if you turn around and whip them with metal chains methinks you'll find yourself burned pretty fast.”

Mrs. Daydew regards him with such scrutiny Hiccup feels a blush coming on. Is she checking him out? He already has a girlfriend, and she’s the type to get jealous if other women make moves on him, even if he’s fully devoted to her. And Toothless, but that’s not a romantic relationship, so she has no reason to be jealous. Even if-

His rambling mind is brought to a halt by the next question, and Hiccup feels compelled to answer it. Even though he has no idea why the lady asked him.

“What year is it?”

“Three years after the fall of Drago,” Hiccup replies. Mrs. Daydew mouths the words to herself, then tries again.

“What year is it?”

Hiccup is still obliged to answer, so he replies: “four hundred years after Berk was founded.”

“Yes, but what year is it?”

“Eight years after we trained the dragons.”

Mrs. Daydew twirls her seidr-stick around deft fingers and sparks shoot out of them as if she's an irate Zippleback. An idea strikes her and her green eyes light up.

“What year is it in the Christian calendar?”

It's been a while since Berk had contact with any Christians. And why does it matter what year it is in the calendar of people who smell like the pigs they share their house with? At any rate, words fall from his mouth before he can put a stop to them.

“ 978. I think. Could also be 985. Somewhere in the nine-hundred.”

Mrs. Daydew raises her eyebrows at him, the first facial expression he's gotten out of her that doesn't involve frowning or glaring or looking at him funny.

The door is still open behind her, but Hiccup knows that he won't get far. Seidr women have strange powers and he doesn't feel like invoking a curse that will hit his grandchildren if he tries to escape. Those seidr women are vindictive, or so the legends tell him. There can also be an army waiting for him out there, For now it’s best to stay put and goad her into giving him answers as to what they want from him. Maybe the curse she put on him to speak the truth works both ways. In seidr, there's something of an equivalent exchange.

Thankfully, the woman obliges in asking him the questions which tell him something about why they've kidnapped Hiccup and Toothless.

“Is your dragon an Alpha species?”

“No,” Hiccup answers. Toothless had challenged an Alpha and the dragons had bowed to him, but that didn't automatically turn him into a different species capable of pressing his will onto other dragons. He doesn't say any of this out loud, however. Toothless has so far displayed no signs of becoming an Alpha, even if the responsibilities of Chief press down on Hiccup. Toothless is as carefree as ever and Hiccup uses that freedom to escape for a little while, pretend like his father hadn't died and he’s still exploring the ocean and land surrounding Berk.

Mrs. Daydew begins asking him more questions, about riding a dragon, befriending a dragon, taking down a dragon. To his horror, he can't stop talking. They aren't exactly secrets, but still he prefers to get to know a person a little better before he describes that first accidental flight atop Toothless' tail which gave him the idea for a saddle in the first place.

Even if he hadn't put a spell on Toothless, this woman has put a spell on Hiccup. Every time he tells her the truth he feels so satisfied, so happy that he’s providing this valuable service, that the next question comes before he can contemplate what this means. His mind-voice screams at him that this is dangerous - he could give away secrets when he’s like this - but there’s nothing he can do.

Four times she asks him if Toothless is an Alpha, phrasing it in different ways, and every time he denies it. Toothless is simply a Night Fury, maybe the last of its kind, but just a regular dragon. He can match an Alpha, and he might develop the powers of controlling other dragons, but all they ask him if Toothless is that species. No. Toothless is a Night Fury, end of story.

Hiccup doesn't know how long he’s talking, but he does know when control of his lying center gets handed back to him.

Mrs. Daydew asks him about how he had lost his leg and for the first time he can say: “That is none of your business.”

She picks up on it as well and once again offers him the pumpkin juice. But Hiccup is no fool - she has spiked that drink with a truth-potion, there’s no doubt in his mind. Forget curses, now he can't eat or drink anything they offer him. They probably slipped the potion to him when he was unconscious to get this first round of truthfulness out of him. He refuses and she tuts.

“We're only doing this for your bestwill, Hiccup. Dragons are quite dangerous and we were protecting you from getting thrown off. We didn't know you were a dragon rider.”

Yeah, sure. Nobody had spotted the saddle or the fin or anything, they had kept on blasting.

“Now are you going to let us go?” Hiccup asks. “You know we're not a risk. We just want to go back home.”

Mrs. Daydew shakes her head. “I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Haddock, but we're going to keep the two of you here for your own good.”

“Where is here? This 'Department of Mysteries'.” Hiccup demands.

“With any luck, you will never have to find out. We're trying to get you back home as soon as possible, because it appears we have made a mistake. And I do apologize for that. But rest assured that we've got responsible wizards working hard on finding a way to get you back home and you won't even remember having been here.”

Well, that sounded ominous. Mrs. Daydew twirls around on her heel and takes the pumpkin juice with her.

“Hey wait!” Hiccup hurries forwards, but the door to this cell slams shut before he reaches the threshold.

“I will be back in the morning, hopefully with a way to return you to your time,” Mrs. Daydew says in a calm and even tone.

Hiccup huffs and slams his fist against the door in protest. It only makes his hand hurt. The walls of this cell are well-constructed and there's not even a window to tell the passage of time. Apparently it's evening, if she'll be back in the morning.

One of the many things to think about while he waits is her cryptic remark about 'back to your time'.

* * *

The next time the Night Fury wakes he’s in a different room. It’s not like waking up after a long sleep. Consciousness assaults him with the speed of a Stinger. Toothless springs to his feet and snarls at … no one. There’s metal underneath his feet and this room is hotter than the one where humans attacked them. Toothless surveys his new surroundings, keeping up his snarling in case someone’s watching him for weaknesses. Maybe the other dragons in the room are responsible for the heat. There are five of them, locked in cages like the one Toothless finds himself in. He doesn't recognize their species, but they are definitely dragons, and they are large. Easily five times as big as the Night Fury. Their paws are restrained by thick chains driven deep into the ground. They have some mobility, but they won't be able to leave their cages.

Toothless shakes his paws, but there is no weight of shackles on his limbs. He stops snarling because it’s no use. Besides the dragons there is no human in sight. He stretches his back to chase away the ache from lying in the same position for some time and walks over to the door of his cage. By now he knows how doors work, but there is no door handle on the cage, only a solid metal square. Water and dried pellets occupy two large bowls to the left of the door.

The other dragons watch Toothless with interest, following his movements as the Night Fury walks alongside the walls, looking for a way out. Their bars are diagonal crosses with a diamond-patterned metal mesh between them. Claw marks made by previous occupants litter the floor and there's a vicious gouge taken out of the back wall.

The other dragons are a subdued bunch. Their skins, though composed of various colors, are washed out like they’re stretched too thin over a big surface area. Despite their food and water bowls filled to the brim their frames appear delicate, their wings underdeveloped. Toothless tries to find a window but there are none. Have they been inside these cages all their lives, never seeing a shred of sunlight?

Toothless nudges the metal mesh with his nose but it’s strong and solid. He huffs and pads over to the water, greedily lapping it up. It’s fresh and cold. Getting knocked unconscious with red lights has made him thirsty. The dried pellets don't exactly awaken his hunger, and even if they do, the humans who have captured him had better give him some fresh fish before he burns this place down.

Better yet, they’re going to let him go and find his rider. Toothless keeps investigating the cage, nudging here, slamming his tail against the bars there. But the bars are solid - the cage has been used to hold dragons five times his size, after all. The cage is high enough the dragon can take flight, but. He can’t remain airborne for long - they’ve taken his fin and his saddle. Toothless roars for his rider but there’s no reply. He wishes for the small weight on his back as he jumps up and down to see if the cage is as solid near the ceiling as it is down here. It probably is, as the bars disappear into the ceiling.

The other dragons gradually return to their own business of eating and sleeping until the Night Fury begins to flame out of pure frustration.

Toothless takes a deep breath, gathers the hottest blast he can muster and aims at the metal square where a door handle should be. The metal absorbs it all, not letting a lick of plasma slip past. Toothless growls, tries again and again, but somehow the square siphons off the deadly heat.

Fiercely Toothless kicks a bar of the door and does feel heat, tempered by his dragon skin. That gives him an idea. Before he acts on it a human male saunters through the double doors which are big enough to admit a dragon to this room. He wears a black traveling cloak and looks at home in the presence of dragons. He waves an ornately carved stick around and says some strange words. A shimmering red haze rises up between the bars of the cages. Toothless bares his teeth and makes himself appear larger when the human makes its way towards him.

“Hey there, little not-Alpha. You doin' alright between these big guys?”

One of the other dragons, a long-snouted one with blue scales, abruptly flames towards the human. The red shimmer lights up and stops the orange flames quite effectively.

“Good, you drank something. But little dragons only grow big if they also eat.”

The human reaches through the metal mesh and taps the bowl with his stick. It's immediately filled to the brim with water. Toothless lunges forward but his teeth close around empty air. The human is fast and he gives Toothless a cheeky grin, his grey eyes sparkling in the red shimmer as the blue dragon flames once more.

“Oh, don't look at me like that, little dragon. I know we plucked you and your ...rider from history, but it was an accident. We were just looking for an Alpha, but instead you popped up.”

Toothless lowers his wings, because posturing when behind bars is rather useless. They've already caught him.

“Don't worry,” the man continues, “we're working on sending your rider back.” He uses a cutesy voice to talk to the Night Fury, like Hiccup uses on the cats roaming around Berk. It's annoying to be talked to like that, but the human gives him more information that anyone else thus far. Maybe the guy will even give him the location of his best friend.

“But I'm keeping you here. I've never seen an adult dragon that's so small. I've got some experimental breeds in this room, but you're the first I didn't create. Oh, little dragon, we're going on a journey, you and I.”

And Toothless once again shows his wings and his teeth, his ear flaps laid back as he growls. This human is like Drago, torturing dragons to get what he wants.

The man walks away from Toothless' cage and towards the other dragons. He makes his rounds under the watchful eyes of the dragons. He fills bowls, cleans waste and generally cares for the other dragons. Several of them try to set him ablaze, but the red barrier he'd erected somehow prevents that. He doesn't even seem bothered by the multiple attempts on his life.

At the double doors the man turns around and once more waves his stick around. The red disappears.

“Goodnight, see you in the morning!” he shouts before disappearing through the wide doors, letting them fall shut.

Toothless haltingly lowers his hackles. He has the entire night to figure a way out. And he already has an idea.

He'd observed Hiccup at the forge enough times to know that heat + metal = bendable metal. The bars had heated up under his earlier onslaught. To melt metal he needs a steady supply of heat. Luckily, he has that in spades.

Toothless moves closed to the bars of the door and gathers the hottest blast he can emit in the back of his throat. He breathes out and throws a pinpoint accurate blast. Again. Again. Four, five, six before he has to pause. The metal isn't glowing yet. He needs more heat!

He blasts again, five times this time. He might need help from other dragons to heat the bars enough to bend them and slip through. Toothless breathes plasma until he generates no more, takes a moment to recover his shot limit and begins anew. The metal stubbornly stays grey. Soundlessly Toothless begs for help, shutting his eyes so he can focus on getting as many blasts out as possible. The Alpha power he has so readily commanded before shows up, powering his blasts. But it’s not enough, his bursts of plasma are too brief to heat up the metal. His mental begging grows more desperate as his reserves deplete. It's no use, they are going to send Hiccup back and keep him here forever. He'll never fly again.

No. Unacceptable. The other dragons are going to help him. Now.

A second flame washes over him and Toothless stops for a second, completely taken aback. The blue-scaled dragon has started flaming, aiming at Toothless' bars as well. The other four dragons move as close as they can before helping out. They breathe green and blue fire, orange and a far more traditional yellow.

Under the onslaught of ancient heat the bars glow, first yellow, then red.

Toothless moves a bit back to escape the worst heat. His thick dragon skin withstands the worst of the flames, but the melting point of metal is higher than the boiling point of his organs.

Finally he deems the metal hot enough and asks the dragons to stop. He turns around and slams the thick part of his tail against the bars, folding them aside like a folding fan. There's the brief burn of too-hot metal against his skin, but he bears it. He repeats the same process the other way before he turns back around and surveys his cage.

There's now a gap in the bars, large enough for the Night Fury to squeeze through. There's a sting of charred scales on his tail, but he thanks the dragons for their help. He wishes he can do something for them right now, but he doesn't have the means to break all of them out. And the other dragons have restraints on their paws that are impossible to break without burning off their paws.

Toothless chirps once, warbles to show his thanks. He’ll remember them, help them when he’s found his rider. The blue-scaled dragon rumbles an answer back before bowing. Toothless briefly takes on a regal pose before continuing on his way, through the double doors and into the unknown corridor.

* * *

Although the interrogator had left him alone a few hours ago, Hiccup can't sleep. They've given him water and food, but it stands untouched at the door. He doesn't know what kind of spell or truth drug they'd used on him, but it's disconcerting that they can make him spill his deepest, darkest secrets if they just ask.

He lies on the cot and tries to find something to focus his eyes on. But the room is kept so dark that all he sees are the flashes of light hidden behind his eyes. He holds out his hand in front of his and spots the faintest outline, or maybe his mind is playing tricks on him. It’s not the first time he wishes for Toothless’ way of looking in darkness. But if he shouts, nothing bounces back to his ears except useless echoes.

Hiccup suppresses the urge to pee and hopes that his captors will think of that before he has to soil a corner of his cell. But there is no way he is going to ask them. So he crosses his legs and taps his hand against the metal of the cot, amusing himself by drumming out some songs.

His mind keeps whirling back to the strange room and the people within. Have they done anything to Toothless? How is it possible for a room to materialize around them when they were in open air? Why are they so concerned whether Toothless is an Alpha or not?

All of those questions will have to wait when there’s a commotion outside the cell. There are muffled shouts and bangs and - maybe - a Night Fury roar? Quickly he gets up and walks over to the door, putting his ear to the metal. Immediately he pulls back because the metal is hot to the touch. He rubs his burnt ear and grins, because metal heating up like that usually means one thing. Well, it more often than not it means he's working in the forge, but in this context where he's separated from his dragon a hot door means something else.

The door should be red before Toothless attempts to kick it down (or melt it out of its frame), but the dragon is impatient. It takes the Night Fury three bangs before the metal buckles and the lock mechanism breaks. The door swings inwards and the gummy grin of his dragon is the best thing Hiccup has seen all night.

Toothless lowers his hind leg and turns back around, revealing a man he has pinned to the ground. Hiccup exits the cell, careful not to touch the hot door, and crouches at the man's bald head.

“Where's my gear?” he asks. The man wheezes and Hiccup signals for Toothless to let up on the pressure a bit. The man coughs and they let him take a few deep breaths before Hiccup repeats his question. With watering eyes the man points towards another door in the corridor. His traveling cloak - no, robes - are spread around him like a dark puddle.

“Toothless, keep him there. I've got some more questions for him.”

The Night Fury growls at the man while Hiccup heads towards the door. The corridor is long, with doors haphazardly strewn all over. The same blue torches they seem to use everywhere are set at specific intervals to create an ambiance of creepiness, letting dark shadows lurk between the light sources. Most of the doors are this metal grey, but there are some wooden doors spread out. In the distance the corridor bents out of sight. There are no humans milling about. It’s like this entire corridor is abandoned.

The door in front of him is one of the few wooden doors, made of a dark oak which smells nothing like oak. Behind it lies a storage closet, filled with items he has trouble seeing the sense of. A cloth cylinder, long purple bird feathers, glass bottles filled with liquids in all colors of the rainbow. Someone has taken the time to add letters to the bottles, but Hiccup can't read them. A vague alarm goes off in his head - since when can't he read? - but when he spots his gear shoved onto the lowest shelf of a metal cabinet there's such a sense of relief flooding through him he puts the weird script on the bottles aside. He knew his gear couldn’t have been far, Mrs. Daydew had summoned his leg from up close.

The man wheezes again and Hiccup breaks a speed record putting on his gear. The saddle and myriad of straps and buckles he uses are whole and untouched. Thankfully the tail fin is also there, and that's the first thing he carries back and puts on.

Toothless briefly interrupts his intimidating growling to look back over his shoulder and curl his tail around Hiccup for a second in thanks. Hiccup peddles back and forth and straps the dragon in, a task he's gotten good at, especially with Toothless this cooperative.

When the Night Fury is flight-worthy Hiccup once more crouches at the man's head. The man’s baldness clearly shows that he’s red all over and he has his hands curled around Toothless' paw in an attempt to make him remove it.

“Alright, Toothless, you can lift your paw,” Hiccup says, gently pushing against the limb. “I think he knows it's better not to run or... use those red lights.”

The man gasps for breath, squeezing his eyes shut as a coughing fit overtakes him. Hiccup patiently waits for him to recover, keeping his eyes on the man to ensure he doesn't grab his stick. Those seem to be the source of their power.

“Where are we?” Hiccup asks.

“Ministry of Magic,” the man answers, wiping at his blue eyes to get rid of the tears. He coughs once more, but then stops.

“What's the easiest way to get out?”

“You can't. We're underground.”

“Toothless.” Hiccup gestures for the dragon to come closer and the man's eyes widen. He scrambles backwards and dragon and rider follow him until he bumps against the corridor wall.

“The dragon won't fit inside a hearth! And you can't Apparate with it, and it won't fit in the telephone booth or toilets either! Oof.”

The paw is back and the man squeaks out: “Portkey.”

The word itself is nonsense, but Hiccup recognizes defeat when he sees it. “Where do I find it and how do I use it?”

The man explains and Hiccup finds himself wandering through a corridor like the others, looking for a yellow door. Toothless trails behind, nosing doors open here and there.

“Two lefts and a right,” Hiccup mutters to himself as he turns the corner. There are two people on the far side of the corridor with their backs to him. Quickly he steps backwards, bumping into Toothless in the process. “Ssh,” Hiccup hisses when the Night Fury croons a questioning noise. Hiccup waits ten seconds before he peeks around the corner. The two have left. Or went into the room with the yellow door he spots at the far end of the corridor. That'd be just his luck.

He speed-walks over to the door, aware of the noise his prosthetic makes on the black marble floor.

With Toothless as his backup and... convincing tool he throws the door open. The room is stuffed full of junk, but no human life in sight. There are shelves full of rusted metal cans, old clothes, ripped oddly white parchment, black thick wheels made of a material Hiccup hasn't seen before.

“Alright, stay there. Do not touch anything. You'll get transported and if the guy was right you could end up anywhere on the world. Maybe even Hel.”

The dragon shrinks back as Hiccup carefully navigates inside. At the back are the ones ready to use. Why they're called 'keys' is beyond him. It looks like debris. But apparently he's landed in a place where seidr doesn't just belong to the women and legends. Men practice it as well, and it has visible and tangible effects. So junk disguised as transport could work.

He spots the red pants the man told him about.

“Hey!” a voice calls from beyond the door. It sounds in the distance, but there's more than one set of footsteps hurrying towards them. Toothless makes a noise of distress and Hiccup waves his arm around.

“Toothless! Turn around and get your tail in here!”

The Night Fury is more concerned with throwing blasts at the people hurrying towards them. Hiccup sees flames reflected on the floor on both sides of the corridor. He tugs at Toothless' hind leg to get his attention. Reluctantly the dragon moves a few steps backwards, getting his tail and back end through the doorway. He flames again when the fire hisses and water splashes against the marble, ending his attack with a defiant roar.

Hiccup keeps one hand on the tail, tugging at it so Toothless moves another step back. With his other hand he stretches out towards the red pants. One more foot... His fingers slip from Toothless' tail and he grabs the tip with his index finger and thumb.

The Night Fury roars at the intruders and opens his mouth, the unmistakable sound of plasma gathering in the back of his throat echoing through the corridor. He jerks forward. Hiccup stumbles and nearly touches the Portkey shaped like a broken bag.

“Toothless!” he barks, once again making a grab for the flailing tail. He grasps it tightly and pulls until Toothless leans back. Now he gets why the dragon had trouble moving backwards: his wings are jammed against the wall, he can't get them through the doorway. But that lean is enough. Hiccup finally gets a hold of the fabric and the next second his hand is glued to Toothless as they both tumble through space.


	3. Chapter 3

The ground comes up fast, smashing itself against Hiccup's abused buttocks. He rolls ass over teakettle until he comes to a standstill against a pole. Toothless doesn't fare much better, tumbling over and keening.

Hiccup slowly gets up, checking himself over for any injuries before making sure Toothless is alright. When the dragon flips to its feet, Hiccup next ascertains that they are safe and not about to be ambushed by more people waving sticks at them.

They stand on a smooth stone path, bathed in light originating from the top of the pole that had stopped Hiccup. The path cuts through a field of grass sparsely populated by deciduous trees. The water in the distance to their right reflects light spewing forth from ridiculously tall buildings standing beyond the water. Many of the buildings are as high as the sea stacks rising out of the ocean next to Berk. There are barely any stars in the sky, even if it is a clear night. The sky is a gradient of yellow, fading into black where the ship-star twinkles in the north.

It is a sight unlike anything Hiccup has ever seen. It seems those seidr-practitioners have transported them into a part of the world far beyond the archipelago he's familiar with.

In the distance there's a bench upon which a human sleeps, but otherwise the paths are empty. Until someone pops up out of nothing next to a maple tree on their left, shooting a red jet of light towards them in the next second. Hiccup ducks the attack and Toothless shoots a bright blue sphere of fire towards the man or woman.

Hiccup wastes no time climbing on the saddle. Toothless is also eager to get to clear skies and with one, two beats of his wings the ground falls away beneath them.

The person they shot at tries to hit them once more, but they easily evade that red light with a spin as they climb higher and higher. And the landscape gets weirder the higher they go.

Lights stretch across the horizon, surrounding them on all sides. Smooth roads with white markings crisscross between buildings lit up from within. Buildings completely covered in reflective material shine between rooftops that are so high off the ground they should collapse under their own weight. The village they find themselves in is never-ending. Maybe this entire heretofore undiscovered continent is one big village, stretching from ocean to ocean, paving too-smooth roads across stone spires. Humans have tamed nature here. Instead of a hut in a forest, the sparse trees are allowed to populate a field of grass, surrounded by houses.

Hiccup steers Toothless towards a winding stretch of darkness and finds a river. Lights originating from boats bigger than the ones they used to hunt dragons crawl along the river, disappearing briefly underneath bridges upheld by metal struts.

It's a world without nature and it all looks so fake. The stars are blotted out by light, like they aren't interesting. There are endless rows of houses and halls, shops and Christian church spires.

“Get down!” Hiccup yells at Toothless when he spots a seidr-woman to his left, floating on a … broomstick. Without hesitation the Night Fury dives, the jet of red light narrowly missing Hiccup's back. He looks back over his shoulder once Toothless has leveled out. There are twenty, maybe twenty-five people on broomsticks chasing after them. This is going to require some tricky evasive maneuvers. Where have they all come from? The sky was empty a minute ago.

They bank left. No time to think about how people are able to fly on broomsticks. There's only time to act. The open skies are their domain. In a closed off room the seidr-practitioners bring them down, but here, above this strange village in a world filled with light, the dragon rider will show why they call him Master of the Sky.

Hiccup steers Toothless into another dive. They have to lose some of the crowd following them. Let's see how their broomsticks handle water.

The river thankfully isn't brightly-lit, only showing some boats here and there. The river leads them west. Their pursuers don't fire their sticks at him, not while they weave between the boats and presumably innocent people.

They soar underneath two bridges, approaching upon a third which resembles the spine of a big dragon, eerily lit from the sides and below. The pillars of the bridges are roughly at the same width and space across the river, so Toothless speeds up. He dives once, briefly, underwater, releasing his echoing roar. When they come up they've slowed down a bit and two jets of red light strike the surface of the water two inches off Toothless' right wing.

“Deep enough?” Hiccup asks and Toothless jerks his head up in a nod. Hiccup bows down low over the saddle and urges his dragon to speed up. Toothless dives underneath the sixth bridge they pass. In front of them lays a metal ship, its back and front sharp enough to cut through other ships. Like everything in this world it's too big for it to float. Hiccup has an idea.

They disappear underneath the ship, letting the drag of the water slow them down enough. Instead of reappearing at the bow, they emerge at starboard underneath the walkway leading to the ship, before disappearing into the gap between two buildings. The gap narrows too much, forcing them up. Hiccup chances a glance back.

This little stunt has lost him a few of his followers, but they probably only overshot and will join the hunt again soon. One of them dares to shoot a light at him and Toothless spins out of the way. His legs skim the rooftops of several buildings, all of them made of glass or metal or some mix of the two. A singe stone building stands its ground between them.

People point at them from the streets down below. Horseless... carts snake their way down the roads, their bright headlights adding to the alien illumination. There are big, red carts as high as Monstrous Nightmares, but also carts small enough Gobber won't fit in them.

When people down below see the Night Fury sailing above their heads they gasp and point. Some of them run away, ducking into alleys, screaming in mortal terror. Night Furies inspire that level of fear, Hiccup knows from experience. But he doesn't have time to teach these people that dragons aren't bad.

It's easy to follow the road, no buildings block their flight path. When Hiccup looks behind at least ten of the seidr-practitioners break off from the group and land, pointing their sticks at the gaping people. He hopes that they don't have murderous intent, but they'd have him killed him before now if that's true.

So they fly on. They pull up to cross a covered walkway over the road. In front of them the road opens up. But before they get that far a blue light shoots past them. It splits off into dozens of smaller lights and in the blink of an eye they attach themselves to the buildings, forming a web. A net, to catch them.

Toothless gives an eep and performs a sixty-degree turn upwards with two beats of his wings. Both of his hind legs touch the net, but his momentum carries him through, snapping the fragile strands of light. He roars, but Hiccup doesn't know if it's in defiance or in pain. He hopes the former.

Right, no flying between buildings anymore. Toothless climbs above the building, flapping his mighty wings furiously to maintain speed. When the carts are rectangles small enough Hiccup can squeeze them between thumb and index finger they level off. The broomstick-people have chased him, keeping up with him. Toothless is an animal, he tires eventually. Dead pieces of wood keep up their chase for a long time, Hiccup guesses. But the Night Fury isn't even winded - they do more intense flying on a lazy Sunday afternoon than they've done now, but it seems like this chase is going to last a while. The duo can't shake the seidr-people, and they in turn can't take down the dragon and his rider - not without killing them in the process or injuring innocents. It's a good sign that they won't stoop to that level.

“Leave us alone!” Hiccup yells at them, but his only response is hundreds of ropes solidifying above his head. They come down hard and heavy, tangling into Toothless' wings, dragging across Hiccup's back and binding him to his dragon. The ropes seem alive, twisting around his arms and legs. Toothless cries out in fear as the ropes slowly prevent his wings from beating. They are going to drop out of the sky and crash into a building. The damned broomstick-people watch with grins on their faces as gravity takes hold.

“Flame, Toothless,” Hiccup says to his dragon. With trouble he nudges his mask on and shoves his hands into the fireproof mittens he's designed for this purpose. It won't be the first time he travels through a fireball. He hunches down as the Night Fury throws plasma downward, in their flight/falling path, letting the resulting heat wash over them both. The armor takes the brunt of the heat. Hiccup is secure in the knowledge that he's fireproofed every piece of the saddle-and-fin getup. The ropes smell bad when they smolder, the embers awakened by the whipping wind. It takes three long seconds for the ropes to thin enough for Toothless to break his wings free from their gliding position. Two more seconds and Hiccup shakes them off as well, but by then Toothless has flown them across the river, picking up speed as they go.

Down below Hiccup spots another one of the glowing nets. So they hadn't intended to let them fall to their deaths, how nice.

Maybe a diversion can save them from getting captured. He reaches into one of the saddle pouches and is glad he can curl his fingers around a Zippleback-gas cannister. He looks back. Fifteen people still follow them, their sticks held at the ready. If they run out of options, they can bring them down in a way that holds more lethal consequences, Hiccup senses. Mortals rarely want anything to do with seidr, because it is a fickle and dangerous beast. Much more so than dragons have ever been.

Hiccup has never had the pleasure of meeting a seidr-woman before this day, but he'd been raised on the tales and legends of gods and those who crossed them. Seidr-practitioners have a direct line to the gods, and as such gained their powers, sometimes at a price. They themselves often go mad if they can't control those powers, and it is hard to control them. He wouldn't be surprised if some of them had lost all touch with reality and think they are chasing a butterfly. He'd heard the tales.

So he flees, because it isn't wise to rationalize with them. As long as a lighting strike doesn't smack the duo from the sky they haven't called for Thor's help yet.

The highest buildings in the village loom in front of them, sticking out from the rooftops down below like spikes on the tail of a Red Death. It isn't hard to zigzag between them, rolling over to make the turn. There are bursts of unexpected wind shears here but Toothless compensates beautifully. Hiccup spots their reflection in a blunt cone-shaped building as they hang upside down. It is the clearest image of himself he's ever seen - he's used to polished metal, not... whatever they used in that reflective material. They dive a little lower to ensure as big as confusion as possible when he uses the grenade.

Hiccup pops the tab open keeping the gas inside and lets it flow out behind them. He doesn't wait for them to pass through gas - it has to act as a diversion, not a killing tool. Quickly he lights the tinder kept alongside the canister with flint and steel and throws it behind, the embers igniting the gas just as well as any Zippleback can with its sparking head. He hears cries of surprise behind him and pats Toothless on the side of his head.

“Let's show them some real speed,” he says. So far the broomsticks have been keeping up with them, but they have yet to fly at full speed. Toothless nods and tucks his paws in even tighter, the beat of his wings hastening to pick up as much speed as possible in as little time as possible. Hiccup once again hunches low to reduce drag and lets Toothless work his magic.

Toothless finds a jet stream that flows with them and he uses it to pick up even more speed, the lights underneath turning from entire blocks being lit to more and more sparsely lit areas. Roads begin to distinguish themselves from the surrounding black acres just because they are lit.

The people chasing them fall behind, much to Hiccup's relief. Their robes flutter wildly in the wind. Stupid, don't they know that flapping clothes induces drag and slows them down? Hiccup's technical mind jumps to what kind of flight suit he'd design if he had a broomstick underneath him instead of a dragon, but he dismisses that thought. The most important part is that they are getting away!

He has no idea how they are going to get back to Berk, where it lays in relation to this humongous village, but for now he is safe. The wind whistles past Toothless' wings in that typical Night Fury way, signaling high speeds and for most of history imminent death. But this time it is the tune of their freedom.

Until, like before, two of the broomstick-riders appear out of thin air with a loud bang in front of them and slightly to the side. One of them raises his stick and says something. The momentum of dragon and rider is too great, Toothless does try to spin but they sail past the duo with feet to spare. At that moment two things happen.

The man brings his stick down and something whistles through the air, striking Toothless' wing. This time Hiccup identifies the roar as one of pure pain.

The woman throws something at him. “No!” Hiccup cries, but the object hits him on his side. He's been struck by a rusted and dented metal can. That's all that registers before a disorienting feeling takes hold of him. Space shifts around them both, spins them upside down and inside out and then there is an expanse of black underneath them, no longer cut through by roads. 

* * *

They need to slow down. His rider sits up when Toothless uses every trick in his arsenal to increase drag and reduce the amount of pain in his right wing. The searing throb reminds him of the tail fin he'd lost and he fervently hopes that he isn't going to lose his right wing. The rip in the membrane tears open even more under the stress of the wind and Toothless roars in agony.

In the far distance there are more of those strange people on wooden sticks, but they are too far to make out any details. Good.

Like any wounded animal he has the instinct to hide, lick his wounds until he ascertains that he will come out on top in their next tumble.

The lights underneath them are gone, there is only dark expanse. His wide pupils catch enough starlight to see that they are now above a forest. Something still glows in the distance, but it is a far less harsh glow than the thousands of buildings and metal carts had thrown out.

Toothless dives down, paws scraping against the tops of the large trees. The wind tears at his right wing in an excruciating fashion so he grips the nearest branch, violently swinging upside down. It breaks under his weight and quick as a cat Toothless rights himself. His rider probably won't survive a crash headfirst into several branches, whereas Toothless will. He scrabbles at the trunk of the tree, digging his long claws into it until he slides to a halt. Like the world's largest gecko he hangs there for a moment, crooning for Hiccup to reply - has his rider been able to hold on?

“Still here, bud,” Hiccup says, correctly interpreting the noise. Feeling a bit relieved Toothless jumps down the last ten feet, landing heavily on the forest floor. Something small scurries away into the bushes but other than that the forest is silent. No human voices sound above, no red lights whip past them.

His right wing throbs, pain spreading out from the membrane into his bones. The whole area feels hot, hotter than the heat he always carries around in his belly.

Hiccup dismounts and Toothless flinches away at the first touch, but then lets his rider examine the wing. The skilled hands never touch the rip directly, but Hiccup does figure out the extent of the damage.

“I'm sorry, Toothless,” Hiccup says softly. “I never meant for this to happen when I asked you to escape.”

The Night Fury murmurs his forgiveness and buts his head softly against Hiccup's side. It isn't his fault. He has tried his level best to escape unscathed, and they have at least escaped - at least, it appears they have, the stick-wavers haven't appeared yet. Toothless can neither smell, hear nor see them. Either they lay in wait and will pounce when the two of them least expect it, or the forest shields them from sight.

There is a steady drip of blood upon the forest floor. There aren't that many veins in the membrane of his wings, but a jagged rip like that has torn a few open. Toothless turns and licks the blood from his wounds. The rasp of his tongue on the exposed skin hurts, but afterward he feels a bit better.

Hiccup has been digging around in the saddle bags and has created a bandage from scraps of cloth and leather. Toothless allows his rider to bandage him up to the best of his abilities. The rip will heal on its own - he has seen other dragons with much more severe injuries and they'd recovered fine. It will take a while, but they will take to the sky again without the use of another prosthetic.

When Hiccup decides that it's as good as it's going to get he walks up to Toothless' head.

“C'mon, we gotta find some water to properly clean that wound, and get something to drink. I don't know about you, but I'm thirsty.”

While Toothless has had something to drink during his brief stay in the dragon cage, he won't mind a fish or three. So he raises his head and sniffs out any water in the vicinity. There's a faint whiff of it to his left, so he trudges off, secure in the knowledge that Hiccup will follow.

The human's night vision isn't as good as his own, so Hiccup sometimes stumbles over roots or walks into branches. The noise he makes while doing so attracts the attention of creatures in the forest. The Night Fury doesn't know what kind of creatures they are, but the low, almost inaudible rumbling sound is warning enough.

Toothless rumbles back. Apart from humans, few animals are brave (or stupid) enough to take on dragons. The creatures wisely remain in the periphery, but Toothless herds Hiccup closer to his body before finally encouraging the young man to climb upon the saddle. It's easier to move through the forest now, as long as Hiccup keeps his head down and his curiosity to a minimum.

The humans in the sky still haven't found them and Toothless hopes they never will. The dark forest is a perfect hiding spot, especially now that they've moved from their crash site. Gouges down the side of a tree are a sign any self-respecting hunter notices right away, but footsteps on forest floor are harder to track in the dark. Come dawn they'll figure out a new hiding spot. Water is now the main priority, they've got hours yet to find a proper spot to lay low during the day.

Toothless is alarmed when Hiccup slides down the saddle and walks away. He utters a worried rumble and follows the human, but only gets his head pushed away for his efforts.

“C'mon Toothless, we've been over this. Let me pee in peace.”

The Night Fury isn't happy about it, but he keeps his distance while the human takes care of business. He opens his mouth and shows some of the glow in the back of his throat at the creatures stalking them in the bushes. They had better leave soon or they'll find out how well he can aim! Apparently this time they get the message, because there's a rush of ticking and clicking as the creatures talk amongst themselves before scurrying away.

This sound sends Hiccup back into the saddle in a rush, because no human likes the sound of over a dozen large creatures making their departure without the benefit of either a dragon or a large crossbow at their back. His eyes are wide and his pupils as big as they can be, trying to catch a glimpse of the strange creatures that remind Toothless of the tiny eight-legged things making webs in the rafters of the house.

The stream that sends waves of the smell of fresh, moving water into the air isn't hard to track down. Hiccup slides down Toothless' back and cups some water into his hands, splashing his face. Toothless simply sniffs the water, deems it safe and then begins to lap it up. Hiccup doesn't do that, but he does gather some wood under the watchful eye of the Night Fury.

“Could you?” he says, gesturing towards the pile of branches. He's gotten lazy in his fire-building, knowing that the Night Fury's hot plasma ignites pretty much everything. With one blast of flame so hot that it burns blue Toothless sets the kindling alight, the damp branches hissing as the water evaporates quickly. The fire won't burn long, but long enough for its intended purpose.

In all of their exploring Hiccup has created a basic survival package. His flame sword is in it, but so are more mundane things like tinder, a knife, scraps of cloth useful for many purposes and a small metal pot that doubles as a pan or as a plate, as a container and in emergencies as a weapon.

Hiccup cooks some water in it before he drinks it. Next he heats some fresh water up and cleans the remains of blood from Toothless' wing. The hot water is soothing but the constant touches on his sore wing are pinpricks of pain, which bother him all the more because he can't react to it. Toothless rumbles unhappily, laying his head on his paws and watching the world through half-lidded eyes. He lets his rider bandage him back up. Hiccup secures the dressing with broad fern leaves plucked from nearby. He no longer dares to wander off far, although there is no longer any clicking in the bushes.

The young man is no healer, but even he knows what to do with the willow tree that grows a little further upstream. Its shape is unmistakable, even in the dark of the night. Toothless watches in slight puzzlement as Hiccup scrapes bark from the tree, dumping it all into the pot. Next he boils water in the same pot and waits until it becomes as red as any water with blood mixed in. Toothless huffs his disapproval when Hiccup places the pot underneath his face.

“Come on, Toothless, it'll help with the pain,” Hiccup says. Toothless turns his back to the young man, keeping his head on the ground. He's careful not to jostle his wing - if the bandage falls off he'll have to endure more prodding and poking than he feels capable of dealing with.

“I know it tastes bitter, but I'll drink some too. See?”

Hiccup lifts the pot to his mouth and takes a tiny mouthful. That’s enough to make him shudder and he puts the pot down again, shoving it underneath Toothless nose like it belongs there.

“That wasn't so bad. I'm still alive, and I bet your wing's hurting right now. This will help. Toothless?”

The Night Fury finds it hard to ignore that pleading tone, but he does. His wing will heal on its own, he doesn't need human medicine to help him. Apart from the dressing and the TLC Hiccup provides, but other than that he’s an independent dragon. His body will take care of-

“Please, Toothless? I'm sorry that you got hurt and that we crashed and that maybe you won't be able to fly anymore. I'm going to create a mechanical wing if that happens, and you'll be king of the sky once more.”

A sudden panic grips Toothless. Maybe his wing won't heal? He's seen that happen too, and those dragons usually don't last long. For a predatory species it’s vital that the predator can actually, y'know, hunt. Toothless doesn't doubt that Hiccup will find some way to get them both into the air, but the loss of his tail fin is already enough to ground him. The loss of an entire wing will be the end of him.

He laps at the red liquid and regrets his choice. The willow bark tea is incredibly bitter and still has pieces of bark floating on top of it, indecipherable bits and pieces floating inside the liquid. Could be insects, could be ash from the fire, could be rabbit droppings. No way to tell.

Nevertheless Toothless pushes through and drinks the entire pot, leaving only residue at the bottom. Hiccup beams at him and the Night Fury is placated, even if the taste lingers on his tongue (and will probably linger well into next week).

A short while later Toothless has to admit that the pain dulls and the coming night seems more bearable. Hiccup keeps on poking at the fire, but the dragon notices that the young man's eyes droop. Toothless scuttles closer and closer until he drags the human inside the safety of his hind leg and his wing. Hiccup laughs and concedes to Toothless' point - get some sleep - only pausing to create some kind of pillow.

The heat coming off the Night Fury's hide is enough that Hiccup won't need a blanket. They've slept like this before and although the dragon rider sometimes complains of pain in his back and neck the following morning, Toothless only remembers the small happy sigh Hiccup emits when he lays down to sleep. And in that moment he’s content.


	4. Chapter 4

"Just wait here," Hagrid says. No matter how much the dragon rider entices his dragon, the black creature refuses to leave the forest and cross the grounds towards Hagrid's hut. The half-giant doesn't blame the dragon - called Toothless, Hiccup told him. His wing is kept together by a creative bandage not unlike some of the bandages Hagrid has had to jury-rig in the forest. Somebody has gotten him good with a Severing Charm.

Dragon hide withstands an enormous amount of spells, but there are certain parts on their bodies that are easier to injure. The membrane of the wings is one of them, since there is no hide there to speak of.

As Hagrid walks towards his hut he whistles for one of the school owls to come to him. If there are any about, hunting at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they will come. As he enters his hut an owl swoops down and perches on Hagrid's shoulder.

"I gotta write the note first," Hagrid says, "so take a seat. I'll be done in a minute."

He scribbles down some words for McGonagall and requests that the owl take it straight to the Headmistress. The owl, a fine example of the little owl specimen, screeches its querulous agreement and takes off.

By the time Hagrid has gathered his first-aid kit for injured forest creatures and is on his way back to rider and dragon he spots the Headmistress' hat (Headmistress attached) bobbing up and down across the grounds, heading towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Does she ever sleep? Even now, at an hour where even the night-owl-students have gone to bed, the Headmistress reacts quickly and looks so put together. Though Hagrid has a running theory that McGonagall has created a personal 'not a stray hair out place' spell. Although her appearance doesn't truly matter.

What matters is that she's ready to help Hagrid heal a dragon - a legitimate one this time. The groundskeeper hasn't brought Toothless in from a smuggler. Hagrid takes large steps towards the edge of the forest and arrives before McGonagall, only to find Hiccup wandering away, a glassy and dazed look on his face. The dragon continually steers him away from the trees with nudges of his nose, but the human refuses to stay on the grass.

"C'mon Toothless, we've got that… thing… back home. Though we'll have to walk. Just our luck. The _one_ night Johann shows up with new books and you get injured. We'd better get back before the twins chase him away."

By the time McGonagall arrives the young man has convinced himself of his appointment elsewhere, climbed into the saddle and reaches down for his leg. With Hiccup finally at eye level Hagrid notices that he has a fake leg. With practiced ease he switches the metal part of his foot around and inserts it into the stirrup. No wonder the rider has a bit of a funny gait and often got his foot stuck in the forest.

When Hiccup spots McGonagall he gets an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry! We were just leaving, don't mind us."

It's hard for Hagrid to believe, but Hiccup acts a lot like a Muggle when he or she encounters the castle. It's rare, but determined photographers of abandoned buildings or hardcore hikers sometimes stumble onto the grounds. But the spells protecting the castle from unwanted attention always work and they leave without outside interference.

Like this dragon rider is about to do, if it weren't for the Headmistress. McGonagall points her wand at Hiccup but the spell is nonverbal. The glassy look disappears and Hiccup slides down the saddle after unhooking his metal foot. He shakes McGonagall's hand and introduces himself with a long, alliterating name.

"And this is Toothless," Hiccup says. The dragon sits on its hind legs and leans forward, taking in the witches' smell. The animal seems to accept McGonagall in its space, but isn't completely at ease yet. Maybe because Hiccup is on guard as well. No wonder - if McGonagall proves to be dangerous, they won't be able to fly away.

The dragon is a strange thing, Hagrid thinks to himself. McGonagall begins asking some questions about how Hiccup and Toothless came to land in the forest, but Hagrid focuses on the dragon. At first he'd thought it was a baby dragon, but in the dim light streaming from his hut he sees that the proportions are all wrong. A baby dragon has a tiny head, but this… Toothless has a proportionally proper head. It probably flies with those wings if it isn't injured, and the membranes look leathery and dry. The dragon can rumble in its throat and displays a high level of intelligence.

Also, it isn't actively trying to murder everything in its path, something any other dragon would do. Hagrid has no idea how the young man has done it, but he's tamed a live, adult dragon of an unknown species. The saddle means he actually rides it as well.

It isn't often Hagrid feels envious towards someone, but this strange lad is one of those people. To actually be able to ride a dragon…

"And so we found ourselves flying above this forest. Well, crash-landing and meeting Mister Hagrid," Hiccup concludes. Hagrid breaks in before McGonagall can respond.

"How about we move this into my hut?" he suggests. "I got some supplies for you and we can take care of that wound."

"Is that alright?" Hiccup asks. "Toothless is house trained, but he likes to jump around as well."

The rider motions for his dragon to follow and maybe it's McGonagall's helpful spell, freeing Hiccup's mind from Hogwarts' protective embrace, but this time Toothless walks closely on Hiccup's heels.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Hagrid says and moves towards his hut, opening the door. Caesar raises its head from its cushion and boofs when the young man and dragon enter. Hagrid signals for his Tibetan mastiff to be quiet and rummages around for some jam tarts and water. When he turns around there's Toothless greeting Caesar by way of touching noses and huffing. When Caesar licks Toothless' nose the dragon pulls back and rubs the wetness off on Hiccup.

"Gee, thanks for that," the dragon rider comments in a flat tone.

Toothless warbles back and goes off exploring the hut. Hiccup gratefully accepts the water and drains the cup in one pull. Quite a feat, since the cups are Hagrid-sized.

"Sorry, I haven't had anything to drink for... a while," Hiccup says once he's put it down. Hagrid shoves the jam tarts towards the young man on a plate and then looks at McGonagall.

"Do you reckon you can heal the dragon?"

McGonagall shakes her head. "No. Its hide is too thick."

Hagrid nods and gathers his medical supplies into his arms. Hiccup beckons for Toothless to stop opening baskets and Hagrid resists the urge to let his jaw drop when the dragon listens to the command. 'Follow' is a simple one to train into an animal, but 'stop doing what you're doing and hold still' is at a far more abstract level. Hiccup holds the dragon's head in both his hands. "Hey bud, we're going to look at your wing and again and make sure it'll heal alright, okay?"

The calm tone placates the dragon and Hiccup gently tugs at the wing. Toothless complies by opening the injured wing, huffing once and laying down. He keeps his head turned towards the young man and half-giant though.

In his job as groundskeeper and professor of Care of Magical Creatures Hagrid has had to take care of hundreds of creatures. Some of them snap at him, some are too weak to fight. He's assorted a medical supply closet that any Healer would be jealous of. He still has some of the dragon-scale cream he'd made for Norbert.

With an expert eye Hagrid examines the wound after he takes off the bandage - and the dragon, since the remarkable creature is now perfectly visible in the fire of the hearth and the lamplight. Knowledge he's gathered over the course of years bubbles to the front of his mind now that he's got an adult dragon right here, in his hut. A jagged rip runs up the patagium of the dragon, between the second and third phalanges. It has bled clean, but the membranes hang, weighed down by the dried blood. The rip stops two inches from the ulna. It looks like it hurts.

Before Hagrid does anything else, he applies a numbing cream around the wound so the dragon won't feel much from his tinkering. Under the scrutinizing eye of both dragon and rider he sets to work.

* * *

 

The scent of bread placed in front of him on the table is tantalizing, but Hiccup won't eat until Toothless has been taken care of. Hiccup sinks into the chair at the table when the dragon tears into a slab of dried tuna the size of Hiccup's foot, Toothless' wing tucked back to his side. Weariness settles upon him, but he can't relax yet. This 'Hagrid' has helped him, first with leading him out of the woods and next by taking care of the wound in a way Hiccup, with only limited resources, can't. The presence of the curt but courteous woman is a bit off-putting though. Hiccup doesn't like the feeling of confusion along with a screaming need to be somewhere else he'd experienced the second he set foot outside the forest. A feeling which McGonagall had lifted.

The presence of a seidr-stick alone is enough to keep him from asking for a place to sleep. Toothless settles next to the hearth once he's finished his snack and keeps one half-lidded eye trained on Hiccup. Good, he at least has the back-up of his Night Fury. A wooden wall will give under the weight of Toothless' thrashing if it comes to that. Also, it's inflammable.

Hiccup had told an edited tale of how he and Toothless appeared above the forest while Hagrid bandaged the rip. If McGonagall belongs to the same clan as the other stick-wielders, she might have the same goals. Hiccup wants to trust the woman, but experience tells him otherwise. Which is sad, but inevitable. He's had too many people after him for the simple fact that he rides dragons.

"That wound looks much better, thanks, Hagrid," Hiccup finally says. He picks up the bread and takes a big bite. The food is tough, but Hiccup is used to food shortages (before everything changed). Bread baked from whatever little grain they have lying around isn't unheard of. One memorable winter they had to sustain themselves by chewing leather until the fishing expedition returned. The resulting feast had been huge, even if it was mostly dancing and little eating. Privately, Hiccup blames that winter for his somewhat stunted growth.

"No problem," Hagrid says. "It'll take a while, but the wing will heal jus' fine. You won't be flying in the meantime, though."

This is a clear cue for McGonagall, and the woman takes over seamlessly.

"You can stay at the castle until your dragon's wing is healed while I deal with the Ministry. Under one circumstance may you stay. Mister Haddock, do you or your dragon pose a danger to my students?"

She has the kind of gaze Gothi carries, flaying away the layers of misdirection and trickery Hiccup employs to carry out his plans in the faces of Dagur, dragon hunters and others that want to hurt him and his friends. There is no ulterior motive in her questions, no double-crossing. Such a breath of fresh air from the multi-layered meanings of so many trade deals Berk makes with neighboring clans. Hiccup doesn't hesitate in his answer.

"No."

McGonagall's intense gaze softens somewhat and Hiccup's gut uncoils. Students. So this is a training ground of sorts. The woman _had_ identified herself as a 'professor'.

"Stay inside the hut. I don't want Ministry officials stomping across Hogwarts grounds and scaring my students, looking for you. I'll read up on Alpha dragons and present your case when the time is right."

Hiccup's head jerks up at the clear message that the woman knows what's up. And appears to be on Hiccup's side. "How much did they tell you?" he asks. McGonagall gestures in the direction of the men and women floating on top of broomsticks above the forest.

"The Ministry tried to pluck an Alpha dragon from history so they could further their understanding of dragon-kind. But they accidentally picked up a normal dragon and a dragon rider, whose story has been lost to the ages as to how he came to ride a dragon. They fled, terrorized the city of London for a while until they got transported to the Forbidden Forest. They could show up at Hogwarts and I was to apprehend you and inform the Ministry."

"Are you? Going to do that last part?" Hiccup asks, all of his senses trained on the old woman. Toothless' gaze slides from Hiccup to the elderly woman. McGonagall curtly shakes her head.

"I think a dragon rider could use a good night's rest before we go about sending him and his dragon back to their proper place with the proper tools. Messing with time needs a great deal of thought and I fear the Ministry will be too hasty in order to correct their mistake. Rubeus, would you host mister Haddock for the night?"

The need for a proper rest, the seidr-user gets right. Hiccup isn't quite sure the entire squad of these Ministry people won't show up at the door come morning, but it seems that McGonagall isn't going to tell on him. Her tone when she told Hiccup about 'apprehending him' was neutral, but she sounds like she does not like doing the bidding of men. For the night, Toothless will be safe.

"I sure can. Here, lad, I'll fetch you a cot. Don't mind Caesar, he might try to jump on you in the night but jus' shove him right off."

While Hagrid rummages around for a cot McGonagall gets up, straightens her robes and walks towards the door before Hiccup can form his swirling thoughts into a proper sentence. There's something he's missing, something she _and_ the Ministry have mentioned to him twice now. McGonagall pulls at the heavy wooden door and the cold night air swirls in as if it's been waiting at the threshold for an opportunity to enter.

"Then I wish you a good night, mister Haddock, and we'll see each other in the morning."

The woman exits the hut with another "goodbye" aimed at Hagrid. Toothless nudges at Hiccup's shoulder and he pets the dragon while staring at the door. It looks like this 'Ministry of Magic' won't come knocking at the door. And that is a comforting thought.

He finishes the bread before shedding the heaviest parts of his armor and taking the saddle off of Toothless. The dragon curls up between the hearth and the cot, keeping his hurt wing tucked in tight.

"G'Night, Hiccup," Hagrid says. Carefully he lays a hand on Toothless' flank and bids the dragon goodnight as well. Judging by the big smile on his face he hasn't touched dragons much, even if it looks like he wants to pet and hug and pamper the Night Fury. Maybe on this continent the dragons have regressed to mindless aggression. He doesn't wonder for long, because exhaustion overtakes him and soon he disappears into the darkness of sleep.

* * *

 

Every problem which seems insurmountable at night looks better in the morning. In the mornings you decide to better your life, even if you decide this at 4 AM and have no clue how you're going to do it. You talk to yourself, think of ways to make your most unrealistic dreams come true. In the morning, the world is a better place. Dreams also help to connect the dots which the subconsciousness picked up, but the frontal lobe was too exhausted to act upon.

So in the morning Hiccup wakes with a half-formed plan to get out of this predicament, even if there's an accompanying dread that today the Zippleback grenade is going to drop. He's cut off from his village, his girlfriend and his entire support network, but he's with Toothless and sleeps in the house of a man with a passion for dragons. Or rather, Toothless has made friends with Hagrid.

Now that the threat of re-capture and imprisonment has been diminished the playful nature of the Night Fury resurfaces. Hagrid adores the dragon and has already found out that Toothless loves to be scratched, especially underneath his chin. The subsequent collapse and happy rumble has made the man smile so wide Hiccup could fit two whole breads in it.

"He's so … unlike any dragon I've ever seen," Hagrid comments. Hiccup nods and joins him in giving the dragon scritches.

"He might be the last of his kind. Toothless is a Night Fury, and for a long time nobody had any idea what those even looked like. But he's intelligent and kind when you get to know him." His usual plea for the kindness of dragons is lost on this man, though. He's already head over heels for Toothless (or maybe any kind of dragon). "Do you have dragons in this... world?" Hiccup asks. Hagrid looks at Hiccup, hesitating before he answers.

"Yeah, we do. Since you're from the past I'm not sure what I'm allowed to tell you. Dumbledore always said that messing with time is dangerous."

There it is, in plain words. From the past. Hiccup's jaw drops open but the man continues on after a small pause, oblivious to the blossoming panic in the young Viking.

"But I figure this won't hurt you. We have dragons, but they're a lot bigger and far more aggressive than Toothless. I used to have one, but had to give it away, because it's illegal to own a dragon without the proper permits and such."

Hiccup doesn't listen to the words, his stomach feels like it's exited his body altogether and the blood disappears from his face in a rush of tingles.

"Hagrid," he asks carefully, "from how far in 'the past' am I to you?"

"Hm? Oh, 'bout a thousand years. Why?"

Toothless whines and nudges Hiccup's limp hand, trying to soothe his obviously distressed rider. Hiccup faintly attempts to stroke his dragon but misses the large head. A thousand years. He only made friends with Toothless eight years ago and that already seems like an eternity ago, another lifetime, where dragons were the enemy. Eight years fit one hundred and twenty five times in a number that large. Berk itself has only been around for four hundred years, and that's one of the oldest villages in the entire archipelago, older than some volcanic islands.

"According to what calendar, what year is it?" Hiccup asks in a shaky voice. He has to know the exact numbers. He _needs_ to know how long ago his friends and family lived - how long ago they died.

Hagrid is now aware that something is horribly wrong, because his tone becomes soothing. "2018. Err, we're using the Christian calendar. I know that there's another term for it, a guy named Gregor had something to do with that but-" he cuts himself off and starts anew. "Nobody told you 'bout it?" he asks kindly. Hiccup shakes his head.

1040 years. That's the gap between his life on Berk, his tribe, his responsibility, and this world where he's found two kind people so far - and over fifty unkind ones.

"I'm sorry, lad," Hagrid says, putting a big hand on Hiccup's back. Toothless noses at Hiccup's chest, landing a precision lick along his jaw. Hiccup doesn't even react, his gaze focused on the familiarity of burning logs inside a fireplace while his mind churns across yesterday's flight. The lights had been alien, the roads, the carts.

"They're gonna help you get home, though," Hagrid continues. Hiccup jerks free from his shock and tries to set it aside for now. Which is impossible to do.

"When in Thor's name were you going to inform me!" he bellows. Toothless, ever loyal, backs him up at once, rearing back and stretching out his wings across the entire hut. He knocks over cauldrons and brushes against the pheasants and rabbits hanging from the rafters, making them sway as he roars, filling the hut with a purple glow. "Nobody is telling me _anything_! What are the sticks for, since when can humans fly on _broomsticks_ and how dare this 'Ministry' use Toothless for experiments!"

Hiccup throws his arms around to underline his words and accidentally hits his dragon on the nose during his tirade. "Why are there so many _secrets_! Your people can make _me_ talk with this - potion- but I think I deserve some answers after you've dragged me and my dragon across a thousand years because of _research_. How are we ever going to get back?" His gaze snaps to Hagrid. "Are you even going to let us go back?"

Hagrid waves his hands in a soothing motion, up and down, and his voice is even kinder. "Course they are. Those sticks are wands, and only _wizards_ can fly on broomsticks. What did they tell you so far?"

That word. Wizard. Hiccup has heard the people from this world, this time, utter that word a few times. It's an unfamiliar one, but it's often paired with one he does recognize: witch. And it's not a good word to appear alongside of. " _So_ many useful things. Which is exactly why I'm both off my chump _and_ aggro."

Hagrid picks up on the heavy sarcasm and indicates for Hiccup to sit down at the table. Toothless remains a solid wall behind his rider when Hiccup crosses his arms and doesn't move. Hagrid pours himself a fresh cup of tea and takes a seat instead.

"Wizards are people who can do magic. Their wands are their tools, the broomsticks their way of flying. They live in secret because if the world find out what they can do..." he trails off, then begins anew. "Hogwarts, that's the castle, and it's a school. Where they teach kids how to control their magic and it's the best one in the world."

A boasting tone appears but Hiccup hardly hears it.

"Tell me more about magic. It's not like our sorcery, is it?" Hiccup had meant to say 'seidr', but the word came out all wrong. "Sorcery," Hiccup tries again. "Seeyiidar," he concludes, stretching out the word into useless syllables. Great, the panic is back. "Why can't I speak my language?"

"Reckon the Department of Mysteries put a spell on you so they could talk to you. Takes a good wizard to cast it, though, and even then there are mistakes. What does 'off my chump' even mean?"

"How long until it wears off?" Hiccup demands. When he gets home, not _if_ but always _when_ , nobody is going to be able to understand him if he speaks this language of the future. Toothless huffs his own disagreement with the situation behind him, making Hiccup's hair ruffle.

"I'll have to ask professor McGonagall or professor Hackett," Hagrid replies. "But I can tell you about magic. Usually Muggles aren't supposed to know, but, well, you ride dragons. Magical creatures. And I should know, I'm the Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"Tell me everything," Hiccup says, and this time he sits down at the table and gestures for his Night Fury to find a comfortable spot. They're going to be here a while. He succeeds in shoving his panic into a corner for now and focuses on gathering intel. He's going to need every scrap he can get in case the Ministry shows up today and tries to get their hands on either himself or Toothless.

* * *

By mid-afternoon Toothless wants _out_. He's been stuck inside all morning, his wing itches, he needs to stretch his legs and feel the grass underneath his paws. While his body aches a bit from the strenuous exercise last night, he has enough energy to attempt multiple escape attempts. Especially after Hiccup and the large man are done talking for now.

Hagrid is faster than he looks, though, so every time his bid for freedom is thwarted. Hiccup tries to explain a concept of 'staying out of sight' and 'Ministry people doing fly-bys's' to him, but all Toothless gathers from that explanation are two things: he isn't allowed to go outside, and he wants to. It's pure torture, it is.

He flops over on his side and whines, making the large dog whine sympathetically along with him. He eyes Hiccup, but the man is unmoved by Toothless' heartfelt plea. Grudgingly Toothless gets up and settles down near the hearth, huffing to himself about the unfairness of the world and the presence of those humans with sticks Hiccup is wary of.

Hagrid is a nice enough human, though, even if he continually wrestles Toothless down whenever he attempts to escape. For the moment he's gone, something about teaching a 'class'.

"Hey! Hey!" Hiccup hisses at Toothless. The young man stands at the window and peers out, keeping his body hidden in the shadows. "There 's an... upright goat or something outside. Stay low!"

Toothless abandons his self-pity session and slinks over to the window. Hiccup ducks a little lower so Toothless can rest his head on Hiccup's. He keeps the curtains barely wide enough to see the scene happening outside. Toothless can't help but chuckle at the human children gathered outside, running away from a goat walking on two legs as it charges them when they get too close. The creature is barely bigger than a Terrible Terror, but it certainly has the same amount of energy as one those small dragons. Behind the weird goat a herd of horses are peacefully grazing away. The horses appear to be normal, if on the large side. The human children try again and again to sneak past the goat but every time it spots the oncoming threat and charges, making the children scatter.

"What _is_ that?" Hiccup asks rhetorically. If these are the animals of this land, Toothless hates to see what sheep look like here. Can they even walk upright? Toothless dismisses the thought - sheep are the dumbest beings he knows and they'd fall over the second they get upright.

Hagrid shouts incomprehensible things at the children, instructions perhaps, guiding them past the weird goat. Exhaustion is beginning to take its toll and if Toothless were that goat he'd back up towards the herd of horses it's clearly protecting so he wouldn't expend that much energy charging at the children. But goats are stubborn, and this one is no exception. After a few more minutes one of the kids slips past and touches a horse. This angers the goat so much that it froths at the mouth and its fingers curl into tiny fists.

"Oh crap!" Hiccup cries and closes the curtains with a swift pull. Toothless makes a questioning noise and sits back, tail tapping on the ground. Hiccup keeps the cloth of the curtain clenched in his fists and looks back at the dragon. "One of them looked our way," he explains. "So you've got to be very, very quiet."

Toothless rumbles an unhappy rumble. Hiccup is the one tripping over every pot and sword back in Berk. The Night Fury falls back down on all fours and swishes his tail, making contact with the table.

"Ssh!" Hiccup admonishes. Toothless rolls his eyes and goes back to the hearth, keeping the sway of his tail under control so he doesn't smash into anything else inside this cramped hut.

With Hagrid out of the house they have lost their eyes on the outside. No stick-wavers bent on capturing them have shown up yet, but Toothless is a predator. It's advantageous to lure prey into a false sense of security and strike when the tuna fish least expects it. So even if it's boring, rationally Toothless knows that they have to stay inside. He doesn't fancy another wound on his wings. Still, he itches. He's bored. He wants to get out, fully stretch his wings out, run around a little, maybe chase some of those weird goats. He-

Something shiny lies near the hearth and he creeps over to it. At the last second he pounces and buries the thing beneath his paws. It's a metal cooking pot. Right, he'd been batting that around a while ago. He touches it with one paw but once again Hiccup shushes him.

How much longer will this torture last?

* * *

 As the evening falls, the headmistress appears again, this time followed by an older wizard clad in dark green robes and a flat cap. He stature is thin with worry-lines creasing his face.

Hagrid has left the hut to give some of the creatures in his care their own evening meal while Hiccup and Toothless enjoy theirs. Hiccup doesn't know where Hagrid got the fish, but Toothless seems to like them. His own meal consists of carrots, a root he's told is called 'potato' and beef. The potato is laced with rich butter and whoever cooked this meal didn't skimp on the luxuries. The beef is covered with a sharp spice Hiccup has only tasted once before in his life - pepper. It's liberally sprinkled over the meat and the entire meal is prepared with the care of a good cook.

He isn't so absorbed in eating that he misses the twist of Toothless' ear flaps or the way his dragon raises its head. A few seconds later he hears it as well. Footsteps on the stones leading up to the hut, and not the footsteps of a large man. A knock on the door has him push his plate away and sliding the stool back. Toothless doesn't growl or bare his teeth, a good sign, but Hiccup still reaches for his shield.

"Mister Haddock, may we enter?" McGonagall calls. "I have brought along a representative of the Ministry who wishes to talk to you."

"Is he going to try and injure Toothless again?" Hiccup calls back. The male wizard answers.

"No, mister Haddock. I assure you that no harm will come to you or your … dragon. In fact, I want to apologize for the way my colleagues treated you and wish to make amends."

Hiccup sidles closer to Toothless before he says "come in". He keeps his hand near his blade. Hagrid had told him about wizards and some of the magic they could do, along with a short explanation about the Ministry. Last night they had been chased by 'Unspeakables', not by 'Aurors'. "Else they woulda caught you," Hagrid had assured them and Hiccup had wisely kept his mouth shut. In the open sky he can take on many a foe but inside these closed quarters the wizards have a distinct advantage. Hagrid had told him in seven different ways that professor McGonagall could be trusted and that they were safe at Hogwarts but Hiccup had heard such words before.

The two stick-wavers enter the hut. Up close the man doesn't seem as strict as he had seemed from afar. He's as bald underneath the flat cap as and the look of amazement on his face as he spots the Night Fury makes anybody look endearing.

"Mister Haddock, I did not intend to intrude upon your meal," he begins politely. Hiccup looks back at the abandoned potatoes left over on his plate. They tasted alright, if a bit mealy and soft.

"It's alright," Hiccup says. Toothless swallows his last fish before sitting back on his haunches, clearly interested in the visiting humans. The dragon is neutral so far, so that's a positive. Toothless somehow knows when people have bad intentions. His fellow riders call it 'dragon instinct' and they're rarely wrong, as long as no Death Songs appear on the scene.

"I am sure professor McGonagall has explained, my colleagues from the Department of Mysteries tried to summon an Alpha dragon from the past since they are all but extinct in our time. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot - my name is Danny Leary, I'm from the Department of Mysteries, specifically, the Time Research branch. We're collaborating with the Department of Control of Magical creatures on the ... project which brought you here."

The word 'control' suggests visions Hiccup is not happy with, and Toothless lays his ear flaps back as well.

"First of all let me apologize for the undue stress we have caused you. My colleagues only meant to study an Alpha, they never intended to rip you out of the past and sling you into a future where nothing must make sense to you."

Danny is sincere, that much is true. But that doesn't excuse them hurting Toothless.

"Methinks Toothless deserves more of an apology than I do," Hiccup counters. "He's the one that got injured thanks to your colleagues and now can't fly until his wing is healed."

"Ah, yes, of course," Danny says. While keeping an eye on Hiccup he makes a small bow towards the Night Fury. "I do apologize, mister, ah, Toothless."

Toothless snorts, shakes his head but finally nods at the human. Danny looks up at the Night Fury, astonishment clear as day on his face. Hiccup wonders what the dragons in this future have to be like for the man to act in such surprise at the Night Fury. Are they that aggressive?

"The Ministry has realized that it has made a mistake and wishes to make amends," Danny continues. "Shall we take a seat so I can properly explain the current situation?"

Hiccup puts his shield back on the floor and sits back down at the kitchen table. well," he says, putting the unfinished meal aside and folding his hands on the table. "First off, when you interrogated me about Alphas, why did you decide that it was a good idea _not_ to mention that you had taken me a thousand years into the future."

Danny gives a wry smile. "You were never meant to escape, Mr. Haddock." He claims a seat at the table for his own and professor McGonagall does the same. Toothless watches the conversation for a bit before he decides that his fish warrants more of his attention and he resumes eating.

"I've gotten out from far better cages," Hiccup remarks.

"Technically your _dragon_ has escaped from the cage. We had you under proper lock and key," Danny says in a defensive tone. "He is a remarkable one. Why did you name him Toothless? I thought Vikings were more about 'Thor the mighty' and so on."

"That's not how I roll," Hiccup says at the same time McGonagall breaks in.

"It could be the language spell," she says.

"Yeah, tell me about that. And magic. Hagrid told me he works for a school, you're the docent and there are hundreds of students here."

McGonagall adopts a lecturing face alongside a tone and starts to teach. The words flow as if she's explained wizarding society to outsiders hundreds of times before. She tells him about Muggles and wizards, and at his prompting she tells about the potions they can brew, the 'hidden in plain sight' stance the witches and wizards have adopted to survive. As the sunlight fades from the windows and dusk begins to fall she gives an overview of the different kinds of magic they teach at the school before focusing in on Hiccup.

"The language spell this Unspeakable has placed on you will wear off in a week. For now it translates whatever comes to your mind into English. But language is a complicated thing, and no translation spell is perfect. It's impossible to make a distinction between archaic words and commonly used ones. English has a rich history of mixing those two, alongside bastardizing words from foreign languages. If the spell decides there's a better word for what you're trying to say, that will come out instead of the commonly spoken one. You won't notice, but you might have to rephrase certain things upon request. If you think the spell has worn off, come find me or professor Hackett, the Charms teacher."

Hagrid lights a lamp and Hiccup's eyes take a little time to adjust to the sudden brightness when before there was gloom. The woman across from him looks old in this light, older than Gothi, one of the few surviving elders of Berk. Dragons have always decimated the population on Berk. Hiccup wants to ask so many questions about wizarding society, he _needs_ to know how magic works, what are its limits, how much damage can it do to him and his dragon? But all this new information already spins around in his brain and he'll be more receptive for new info come morning. So when the last sunlight fades into temporary black he stops asking questions. Toothless has long since given up on going outside and lies sprawled on the hearth, tongue lolling from his mouth as he's deep asleep.

Danny takes over once McGonagall also stops talking and soothes her parched throat with a large mug of pumpkin juice Hagrid has provided. Hiccup doesn't touch his. The smell of it conjures up memories of being forced to speak the truth so bit by bit he sets it aside until the smell can no longer reach him.

"I want to assure you that the Ministry will modify the spell in order to send you back as soon as possible - after your dragon has healed, of course. We will contact you by owl, Headmistress, when we're ready." He hesitates, looking the old woman in the eyes. "Could Mr. Haddock stay here, Headmistress, or should we arrange for different accommodations?"

McGonagall's eyes wander over the dragon who's out cold and looks endearing without trying before looking back at Hiccup. Haggard, smelly Hiccup with a streak of mud behind his ear and the wariness of a trained Viking. "I'm sure Rubeus won't mind looking after the dragon and Mr. Haddock is welcome to stay in the castle until he can be sent back home, as long as the answer to my earlier question remains unchanged."

"My dragon still doesn't pose a threat to your students, professor," Hiccup says with conviction, looking her straight in the eyes. "But I will not be separated from my dragon, not while he's injured. Either he comes with me inside the castle or I stay inside the hut. Toothless is house-trained and won't bother your students." He might want to nudge and play, but Hiccup can put the kibosh on that.

The professor takes a long moment before she answers, clearly weighing the different ideas in her mind before coming to a conclusion. "I can't ask Rubeus to host you for that long. But the second I feel that any of my students are in danger, you will move back out here. I will have a room prepared for you in the morning."

Hiccup gets up from his chair and holds out his hand. "I can't ask anything more. But allow me to change your ideas about dragons, if you keep an open mind about it." When McGonagall holds out her hand he grabs her by the wrist. Apparently that's not a common gesture in the future because she doesn't return his squeeze. He drops her hand and next shakes Danny's, who is prepared. "I look forward to hearing about when we can return home," Hiccup says.

"As do I, Mr. Haddock. We would have sent you back already but we've hit a little snag. We'll soon resolve it."

Danny Leary and professor McGonagall bid the rider goodnight and are out the door and into the waiting night before Hiccup has the presence of mind to ask what 'snag' they have hit. First order of business: let Toothless heal, get to know the inside of the castle a little and be introduced to the student body. The future might have alien objects and actual magic, it's comforting that people are still people. They can be astonished, curt, kind, frightened of small goats. The children squeal in the same pitch as those back home and even if they have weird colors in their hair they look out for one another.

This endeavor might not turn out to be so bad, as long as it doesn't take too long to get home.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've tried not to go overboard with Victorian slang and other archaic words to make Hiccup's speech sound a bit off. Hopefully I've used the terms in a way where context gives sufficient explanation. I've had a lot of fun with etymology and am now the proud owner of a 'Victorian slang dictionary'. Just in case I'll include a glossary of the terms I've included at the end of chapters. Judging how well-known these slang terms are is hard for an ESL-speaker so do tell me if it becomes too much.
> 
> Off my chump - (going) crazy.


	5. Chapter 5

Hiccup adjusts his shield for the fifth time in as many minutes and Toothless bumps his nose against Hiccup's side. The Viking doesn't know why he's nervous - he trains dragons, he has beaten enemies twice his size with nothing but his wit and a well-timed plasma blast from Toothless. So why can't he help but adjust his shield resting on his back a sixth time?

Because he knows that he's in the _future_. There are self-propelling vehicles, lights that come from anything but fire, oh, and actual magic. To these people he must seem like a barbarian. His clothes make him look like an outsider, and although he was used to that position that doesn't mean that he likes being the outsider once again. He hasn't spotted any males with small braids like he sports, and every piece of clothing these students own is made from cloth instead of leather, and with a much finer weave than his own.

But when the double doors to the Great Hall open he strides in, head held high, Toothless right on his heels.

The Great Hall is far greater than the hall the Vikings called Great back on Berk. Marble and stone rise up, disappear into the sky itself. The ceiling is an illusion, but an accurate one. Candles float above long, wooden tables and the sheer size of the place dwarfs both human and dragon. It's warm inside, and it smells of food and people. Hundreds of people, and every single eye is trained upon either Hiccup or Toothless. They make their way past the wooden tables, towards McGonagall. She's finishing up her explanation.

"So I ask you to welcome Mister Haddock and his dragon, Toothless, at Hogwarts."

A few outstretched hands reach towards the Night Fury and he bares his teeth. The hands are snatched back.

When Hiccup reaches the pedestal McGonagall used to address the student body he finally turns around. Toothless sits down beside him, wings neatly curled inward and gaze vigilant.

"Hi," Hiccup begins. He has prepared a small 'hello this is who I am' speech but with every single eye trained upon him he finds it hard to remember that speech. Teenagers whisper amongst themselves. There are students approaching adulthood mixed in with children with round babyfaces looking like they just fell out of the nest.

Toothless burbles an encouragement and Hiccup tries again. "Hi," he says. "I'm Hiccup Haddock the third from the Hooligan tribe. But most folks call me either Hiccup or master dragon rider, or sometimes 'you again'."

At 'master dragon rider' the whispers begin anew. McGonagall only has to scrape her throat for the noise to die down.

"I'm the chief of a village called Berk, which none of you have heard of and where none of you will ever go. In your words - I'm a Viking, taken from my time by your Ministry ereyesterday. Now we gotta wait for your Ministry to send us back. And by us I mean Toothless and I."

The Night Fury raises its head in acknowledgment of the students and taps its tail against the ground.

Hiccup turns sideways to his dragon. "Wanna give them a smile?" he asks. The Night Fury does and students laugh at the adorable imitation.

"Toothless is a Night Fury, a dragon which I'm told is either extinct or well-hidden. He is my best friend, but be warned - he is still a dragon. He is not tame, defenseless nor a dumb animal. Respect him and he'll respect you, is what I'm trying to say. Get his okay before you try to touch him. But he won't harm you because he can. Sorry, giving mixed messages here. Just… use common sense. You people from the future got that, right?"

More laughs from some students and one hollers: "well, _some_ of us do!", prompting more laughter. A kid, blond hair and plump face flushes such a deep red that he fits right in with the row of red apples piled in a bowl on the table.

"One last thing before I leave you to your meal, Professor McGonagall used this, ah, language spell on me so I can understand and speak - English, this language is called. But it needs to be refreshed from time to time so if you try to talk to me and I look at you like you're talking nonsense, well, to my ears you are. If you catch me speaking my own language, which probably sounds like nonsense to you, please tell Professor McGonagall or… Professor Hackett. While I'm enjoying your hospitality here at Hogwarts I'll be helping Mister Hagrid out so I'll see most of you guys around. Thank you for your attention."

Hiccup steps away from the pedestal and the noise level rises tenfold. He doesn't need to adjust the shield on his back a seventh time as he walks out, Toothless hot on his heels.

* * *

The first classes have begun, but Hagrid is available to show them around Hogwarts. The giant man makes no objection when Toothless pads into the Entrance Hall, in fact, he smiles at the dragon. Hiccup turns around and takes the Night Fury's face between his hands.

"Don't touch anything, ya hear me? You already got hurt by magic, no need to get yourself killed over it."

Hagrid thunders a laugh at the warning. "Take it easy, it's a _school_. Hogwarts is one of the safest places to be, in fact."

Hiccup lets go of Toothless' head and the dragon opens its mouth and closes it a few times while rolling his eyes.

"I'm not exaggerating, Toothless. Also," Hiccup says as he turns around, "there were creatures hiding out in the woods. Big ones. Are those safe as well?"

Hagrid's grin freezes in place and it slowly slips off. "Yeah alright, the forest is not safe, especially at night. But inside the school there's little that - _don't lick the hourglasses_!"

Hiccup whirls around and witnesses Toothless getting zapped by a visible, if tiny, bolt of lightning coming off the hourglass filled with yellow gemstones. The Night Fury yelps and scrambles backwards, tongue sticking out. How has he even gotten over there so fast?

"Bad dragon!" Hiccup scolds. Toothless is too busy making faces at the inanimate hourglass to notice the insult, but he does understand what Hiccup wants when he grabs him by the ear flap.

"If you can't listen to me for five seconds, go play outside and I'll find you after the tour. Don't touch the bandage," Hiccup says in a firm tone. Despite being easily five times his size and weight the Night Fury follows the sure hand outside, Toothless' tongue still hanging out. Not even Night Furies are fireproof on the inside. He rasps his tongue against the outside of the castle walls and Hiccup extends his hand. Toothless allows his rider to inspect the injury.

"You'll live," Hiccup judges and steps back inside the castle, shutting the door behind him.

"Ah, I would've liked the little fellow along," Hagrid says, but Hiccup's frown makes the large man amend his statement. "But we'll see him later."

* * *

The tour of the castle takes a long time and three times the students change from classroom to classroom. Hiccup takes up post beside a statue or a suit of armor every time that happens. Students still gawk but Hiccup stares back just as hard. There are kids carrying books, that's the normal part. Kids dangling teacups with twitching rat tails, not so much. One memorable class has all of them covered in bright, yellow feathers like the world's largest bird, another class is apparently a swim class because they are all drenched. They smell like charcoal and ozone, live frogs and wet mud. Teenager hormones are quite present as well. There are normal occurrences as well, like kids copying homework of each other, spilling ink on their parchment in their haste to finish up an essay. While the school system with classrooms and houses is unfamiliar to Hiccup, he knows apprenticeship. And that involves finishing up a piece at the small anvil in his father's home because Gobber is too tired to keep the fire at the smithy going. This is a different kind of homework, but the principle is the same.

Toothless is a streak of black across the grounds. Hiccup spots him chasing leaves around a few times on the grounds, and he grows smaller the higher they go. When Toothless has become the size of a dog, skulking around Hagrid's hut, they've arrived at the top floor.

"Thank you so much for the tour, but I ought to check up on Toothless, make sure he hasn't licked any more, ah, House point hourglasses. Or anything else of value."

Hagrid gestures towards the staircase. "It was my pleasure, Hiccup. D'you think you can make your way back down yourself? I've got some business on this floor to tend to, in fact."

"Shouldn't be too hard, right?" Hiccup says. The moment he wants to set foot on the staircase it unlatches from the landing and swivels away. Hiccup wobbles on the edge but manages to keep his balance. Wouldn't that be an embarrassing death?

"Watch it, if they rumble like that it's about to move," comes Hagrid's late warning.

"Great, thanks," Hiccup says, but the sarcasm is lost on the big man. Hiccup makes his way to the next staircase and this one remains solid. "See you back at the hut?" he asks, and Hagrid affirms this by smiling.

"Have fun!" Hagrid says, waves once and disappears into one of the many, many corridors this castle houses.

Hiccup's general impression of Hogwarts is that every single piece of it _moves_. Portraits, statues, staircases, tapestries, students - they twirl together in a magic dance he senses no rhythm to. It won't surprise him to learn that the castle itself is alive somehow. From the dark dungeons to the light and airy towers, this whole place sings with an energy he has never encountered before.

And it scares him. And enthuses him.

If these humans can learn magic, actual, make things appear out of mid-air magic, and they claim that they have been doing this for centuries - then where are the witches and wizards of the archipelago?

* * *

Toothless has wandered away from Hagrid's hut and Hiccup finds him at the edge of the lake, staring intently at something below the water surface. His wings are raised in alert but his pupils are wide, so there is no cause for alarm.

"What'd you find?" Hiccup asks as he approaches his dragon. Toothless flicks one ear in his direction to indicate that he's heard Hiccup but whatever captured his attention is more interesting to look at. Hiccup stands beside Toothless' raised head to follow the dragon's line of vision.

Something _large_ moves underneath the surface and Hiccup's interest is piqued as well. Both human and dragon stare at the surface, willing the creature to show itself.

"That's gotta be larger than a Seashocker," Hiccup says. Toothless doesn't react. "Larger than a Scauldron?" Still no response. "A Thunderdrum?" Hiccup tries one last time. That earns him another flick of the ear. About the size of a Thunderdrum, then.

They watch the lake some more but the being doesn't surface. Some students have gathered near the trees at the edge and are watching human and dragon. The kids - or rather, near-adults - Hiccup amends when he spots a fledgling beard on the tall black-haired boy keep their distance. The dragon rider has an internal debate whether he should walk up to them or leave them be but when he spots the position of the sun he decides against it. They spent more time looking at the mysterious creature underneath the surface than the lake than he'd thought. Hiccup walks away from the lake and gestures for Toothless to follow. With some reluctance the Night Fury tears itself away from the fascinating thing moving down below and he falls into step beside Hiccup as they make their way to Hagrid's hut. The students don't follow.

'Helping Hagrid out around the school' turns out to be 'fertilize these pumpkins'. It is an easy task, but Hiccup likes it that way. He knows how to spread mushy ground around and make sure every vegetable gets its fair share of sunshine. It gives him time to reflect on the tour, the school and this new life here.

The people seem friendly enough, and they have given him shelter and food. Professor McGonagall stood in front of a Whispering Death for him against the Ministry and Hagrid likes the Night Fury. There had been no outright hatred or disbelief when Hiccup had introduced himself to the students. Toothless doesn't sense anything wrong, so there's no real reason to be fidgety. Yet, Hiccup is. The energy this place gives off buzzes underneath his skin and if he could, he would fly away on his dragon.

But the Night Fury lounges around in the sun, wings luxuriously outstretched. He's currently dreaming, if the kicking legs are any indication. The tips of his wings vibrate and he makes smacking noises with his mouth.

Yeah, Hiccup decides, maybe this place isn't _that_ bad. If only this buzzing sensation will die down, he could spend some peaceful downtime here while Toothless heals.

* * *

It's like being back at the Great Hall of Berk before he'd begun dragon training all over again. There are no doubt cliques, friendships, enemies, none of which Hiccup is aware. But he has to sit somewhere to eat dinner. So he squeezes himself into a vacant spot between kids sporting the black robes with yellow trim.

The second challenge is the food. There's so much of it, throwing curls of appetizing smoke between the floating candles. But Hiccup barely recognizes any of the dishes. There are eggs, sure, meat and fish, of course. The potato he'd eaten yesterday seems to be a staple in most of the dishes, but there are also dishes consisting of long, thin strands of a wheat product covered in red sauce. He at least recognizes the chopped onion, but the apples are huge and a curved yellow fruit is still covered in its thick skin. White grains, thick with moisture, are another staple.

Spinach. He recognizes the spinach. And there's butter, beans, cherries, mutton and soup.

Hiccup piles the meats and vegetables he recognizes on his golden plate and digs in, since everyone around him appears to be doing the same. The gold's got to be either an alloy or painted on, it's too valuable a metal to use for mere plates. The children use unfamiliar cutlery but for now Hiccup settles for the spoon and the knife until he gets a hang of their table manners. The three-pronged fork stays on the table despite all of the students using it to eat.

"What d'you think of Hogwarts so far?" the female student next to him asks. Hiccup turns towards her. Not everybody is busy eating - some of them are studying him.

"The castle is larger than I'm used to but it's well, it's magical," Hiccup replies. The girl chuckles. Now that the water has sloshed over the dam it's hard to put a stop to its total collapse. Every student in the vicinity has a question at the ready, it seems, because they all accost him at once. Thankfully Professor McGonagall notices the disturbance and she makes her way to the commotion.

"I'm sure Mister Haddock appreciates you letting him eat in peace," she says. Hiccup looks down at the plate of barely touched food and his hunger triples. She's right about that, with one small amendment.

"I don't mind answering your questions, but let me finish up first. I've been gardening all day and I'm _hungry_."

"Ah, of course, sorry," the girl says, and the others apologize as well. So Hiccup makes quick work of his plate, but he could sure go for seconds. He hesitates over the white grains.

"That's rice," the girl helpfully supplies. "Grains from China. It's bland by itself but the red stuff is spicy tomato sauce."

"Tomato?" Hiccup repeats, tasting the strange syllables on his tongue.

"A vegetable," she says, but the boy to her right immediately corrects her.

"It's a fruit. It's a berry, so it's a fruit."

"But we don't eat it like a fruit, we use it as a vegetable," the girl argues back.

"Intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad," a third, male voice pipes in from the opposite of the table.

"Shut up, Jerome," both girl and boy say at the same time.

"What's this?" Hiccup asks, pointing at the curved yellow fruit. The boy opposite him breaks one off the bunch and peels it in long, sweeping motions suiting his tall face and spidery fingers.

"Banana," he simply says. Hiccup shakes his head in amazement.

"Tomato, banana, any more of this food got any weird names?" he asks. The boy lights up and begins to check out the ingredients of the food in front of him in earnest.

"Bok choy, cucumber, butternut squash, I've got some zucchini here in this spaghetti-"

Hiccup begins to laugh at the many wonderful and strange names of this abundance of food. Has Toothless encountered any new fish in his own meal as well? "Alright, I got it, I'm never going to remember all that."

"As long as you remember to stay away from the Yorkshire pudding, they never get that right."

"Will do. Now, did you have something you wanted to ask me?"

* * *

The room has been hastily put together but Hiccup still appreciates it all the same. It has a bed, a table and a thick rug to cover the stone floor. The covers on the four-poster bed are burgundy red, the rug is a royal blue and high piled enough Hiccup can bury his toes in it. The drapes covering the glass window are grass green and when Hiccup throws them open to take a look outside a cloud of dust sprays the room. Furniture taken from storage, most likely - but what matters is that there's a place for both dragon and rider to sleep. Toothless sniffs around, nudges the rug with his nose but ultimately chooses the spot underneath the window to spew his flame and claim as his own.

Since they're on the first floor they can head out any time they want. The window is big enough for the Night Fury to jump through as long he tucks in his wings close to his sides - and after Hiccup has figured out how to open it. The glass is amazingly thin and clear, not a sheen of green or amber mars the view of the grounds outside.

Hiccup gets rid of some of his flight suit and further explores the room clad in his undershirt. There's a bathroom attached to the room, but no bath. Instead there's a metal pipe sticking out of the wall with knobs underneath and a drain in the floor. The outhouse is an inhouse in this world and it's a masterpiece of piping and buttons. Curiously, Hiccup presses the big one on top of the toilet and stares in fascination as water rises through the pipes and flushes away whatever's in the bowl. A sound like fresh water filling up a tank follows and finally stills. Three more presses produce the same result, so there has to be a reservoir in the castle, along with loads of valves to keep the necessary water pressure available for a castle this size.

Toothless, in his infinite curiosity, also decides to play with the big button and with the continuous sound of a refilling tank. Hiccup explores the metal pipe sticking out of the wall, hiding behind a sliding glass door. There's a drain on the floor and the stone floor is a little rougher inside the cubicle. These people of the future are clean, so there has to be a way to bathe in this castle. Maybe the knob makes a bath appear from a nook in the wall?

Toothless scuttles around the toilet, pressing his ear flap against the wall to find the source of the running water while pressing the button over and over again with his deft paw.

Hiccup turns one of the embedded knobs and jerks back his arm when a spray erupts from the metal pipe. It's cold water and Hiccup shakes his hand to get rid of the drops. _Very_ interesting, a local waterfall which can be created on command. He has to contort his body to reach around the spray so he doesn't soak the single outfit that he has with him.

Toothless noses Hiccup in the back and the dragon rider turns around. "Looks like I can wash you inside here as well, Toothless."

The Night Fury harrumphs and backs out of the bathroom while Hiccup chuckles. Toothless likes attention, but getting washed is an outside thing, not inside.

When Hiccup sinks down onto the bed he finds the bedding material very forgiving. He's used to yak-fur-filled sacks which clump together in humid weather. But this bedding is even all over. As his last act of consciousness Hiccup opens the window, letting a welcome breeze in. He can escape out the window (or Toothless can create an opening) if push comes to shove. It takes him a while to settle into the soft mattress. He even debates making his bed on the rug because it's not natural the way his spine curves on the mattress. He replaces the too forgiving cushion with his discarded undershirt so he has some firmness underneath his head. But exhaustion overtakes him before he gathers enough courage to stick a toe out from underneath the soft covers. Both dragon and rider have vivid dreams.

* * *

The lake is a marvel of wizard engineering, one of the best man-made lakes Hiccup ever had the privilege of seeing. There are shallows to spatter around in, a wicked drop-off promising creatures he's never seen before underneath the surface, miniature cliffs acting as diving boards for the adventurous and a beach for the ones who want to read a book on a towel. Landscaping is a skill reserved for a select group of wizards, but the easier ones can be achieved by a sixth- or seventh year. With the lake to practice on, it's no wonder it's a perfect one: generations of students have had the time to shape it. While magic outside the classroom is forbidden, those wanting to go into the landscaping business sometimes get special permission to shape a piece of Hogwarts' vast grounds.

The weather is chilly for late atumn but for a resident of Berk the sun blazes as if it's high summer.

While Toothless messes around in the shallows Hiccup lies on his back, gazing at the clouds. He might go for a swim later on but right now he enjoys the sun on his face and the happy cries of his dragon as the Night Fury snatches another fish out of the shallows. The fish he catches are small but Toothless is a good hunter and if left to his own devices he'll be able to fill his belly. They've been here for three days now and the bandage is no longer needed, the wing is mending and Toothless is as perky as ever.

Hiccup tries not to think of Berk as he makes out shapes in the clouds. That one over there definitely does _not_ look like Astrid's ax, the one right above him does not resemble a sea stack and the one shifting into the shape of Snotlout's helmet looks nothing like Snotlout's helmet. Why is he even thinking about _Snotlout_ , of all people?

So he's not in the best frame of mind to register the Nadder popping into existence far above his head. The sight of dragons in the sky is so mundane that it barely registers. Because the cloud looking like Astrid's hut is more important than a lone Deadly Nadder squawking its confusion and fear for all to hear.

The sound of distress alerts the Night Fury, however. He freezes, his ear flaps moving to pinpoint the noise. He has one paw lifted above the water, body bent in a s-shape as he was about to pounce. The fish becomes less important than the hiss of a confused Nadder.

Toothless' frozen posture makes Hiccup sit up and take notice. When the Nadder cries out for a second time he looks up and all of the pieces snap into place.

What's a Deadly Nadder doing up there? The wizards claim to have no knowledge of the species of dragon Hiccup is so familiar with. Have they been lying, or is there something else going on?

Hiccup hurries to his feet and makes his way over to Toothless. "Catch a fish for me, Toothless?" Hiccup asks. His dragon is happy to fulfill that request and dives into the shallows, returning with a suitably large fish for the rider. Hiccup accepts the saliva-laden fish, not noticing the garnish.

"Roar for me, bud," Hiccup requests. He puts the fish down on the grass and takes a step back. Beside him the Night Fury takes a deep breath and screeches, calling for the Deadly Nadder. The proud dragons have keen eyesight and hopefully it'll spot the offered food on the ground and land.

Toothless' roar catches its attention. The squawk of confusion turns into one of recognition. The Nadder descends and smoothes out before landing. Its skin carries a green hue and it's fairly young, its spikes showing the white of just-hardened keratin. It has no scars on its legs or wings and it's missing a spike on its mane of deadly appendages.

"You're one of Astrid's, aren't you?" Hiccup asks rhetorically. The Nadder cocks its head and chirps, head bobbing up and down to make sure there are no threats around. Hiccup steps closer to the dragon, scooping up the fish as he does so. The way to a dragon's heart is often through its stomach, and this Nadder is no exception.

"Step back!"

The voice brooks no argument. Hiccup looks over his shoulder at the source and finds the Herbology professor, professor Longbottom, pointing his wand at the Deadly Nadder. His hands are steady and he doesn't even look at Hiccup, keeping his focus on the dragon in front of him. The man usually has a soft tone but right now his voice echoes across the lake and there's a focus in his face which Hiccup does _not_ like. The guy looks like a Viking perched on the edge of a battleship, axe in hand, as an unfamiliar clan approaches. A rather scrawny Viking wearing weird robes, but his face betrays the fighting spirit underneath.

Toothless jumps forward and inserts himself between rider and wizard before Hiccup can do anything to calm down either the Nadder or the professor.

"Never fear," Hiccup says in a steady tone, making sure there's no panic in his voice at the sudden command. "She's a dragon from my time. A Nadder. Proud but kind."

He turns back to the Nadder, which shuffles backwards on the ground, its wings rustling before spreading. The Nadder has its head cocked and keeps one eye firmly on the unknown human, pupils widening. It squawks once before scratching at the ground, showcasing the sharp claws.

"Hey, hey, he's not gonna do anything," Hiccup hushes the startled Nadder. "Look at what I got here, a fish, caught just for you."

With a practiced move he throws the fish towards the Nadder, simultaneously stepping closer. Instinct drives the dragon to snap up the fish and the scent of the fish mingles with the human smell. Hiccup holds out his hands for the Nadder to inspect once it has gobbled down the fish with typical dragon swiftness. It does so before chirping once and pressing its forehead against Hiccup's hands.

"It's nice to see you too," Hiccup says with a smile on his face. This up close he's sure that this Nadder is one of Astrid's flock. The thousand years separating them are a little less severe, because if a Nadder can get here, then Hiccup should be able to get back. "How did you end up here, girl?" Hiccup asks, but gets no answer. He turns back to Toothless and the professor.

"How… are you still alive?" the professor asks. His hazel eyes stay trained on the unfamiliar dragon, tracking its every move.

"It's just a Nadder," Hiccup says. The dragon takes umbrage to that and snorts, shaking its wings. "I mean, not _just_ a Nadder," he amends. "She's a Deadly Nadder, a species capable of melting rocks with their fire, incredible accuracy and they're called _Deadly_ for a reason. But they're also smart and loyal, once you get to know them. So, professor Longbottom, I'd like you to meet Firglide. Firglide, professor Longbottom."

The Deadly Nadder, familiar with the ritual of meeting new humans, lowers its head and widens its nostrils, ready to meet whoever Hiccup wants her to meet.

The human, on the other hand, clutches his wand tighter. Toothless sits down on the side, vigilant in case the Nadder decides to get violent.

"This is the part where you stick out your hand," Hiccup instructs. Slowly Professor Longbottom holds out his left hand. To his credit, it doesn't shake. Firglide sniffs the offered hand and bumps her beak against it, signaling her acceptance of the human. Hiccup hadn't been that worried that the Nadder would act unpredictably, but there's always a risk. They are still wild animals after all.

"It's nice to meet you," professor Longbottom says with astonishment coloring his voice. Firglide chirps and trots off to the shallows. Toothless follows after the Nadder and they begin chasing the fish together. When Firglide uses her spikes to nail them to the ground professor Longbottom flinches.

"How did you find out you can train them in the first place? Our dragons are wild and very, very dangerous."

Hiccup watches the two as they makes quite a spectacle of themselves, splashing and roaring and chasing each other when their focus drifts. "Oh, they are still dangerous," he says off-handedly. "You just got to know how to deal with them. Offering food often helps, and with a Nadder you gotta scratch it underneath its chin if you meet it for the first time. They really like that."

The man no longer has a death-grip on his wand but it's still present. "You said this is one of yours. When did it show up?"

Hiccup points at the sky. "She was just… there. I looked up when she made a noise. I don't think anyone summoned her here, like they did with us."

Professor Longbottom keeps on staring at the two dragons in the shallows. Finally he puts his wand away and turns towards the castle. "Can you keep an eye on this dragon while I contact the Headmistress? Maybe Hagrid's got some space for her behind his hut. If it's safe to keep her there. Or should I conjure a cage?"

"No!" Hiccup immediately replies, waving his hands and keeping an eye on the Nadder to make sure she hadn't heard. "No cages! I'll make sure nothing happens."

The tall but skinny professor walks away and Hiccup calls for Toothless. The Nadder follows, infinitely curious and a lot more pliant with her belly full of fish.

"C'mon, I'll get you some more fish if you follow me," Hiccup says, hopping on top of Toothless. It isn't far to Hagrid's hut, so the duo bound across the grass, the Nadder still following. When they approach the hut, the giant man steps outside. He holds up a hand against the glare of the sun but lowers it when he spots the new dragon approaching. The grin he develops stays on for a good long while.

"Oh-ho, who is this, then?" Hagrid asks. Hiccup wonders what sort of dragon the man could ride, because even the Nadder is dwarfed by his size. A Thunderdrum perhaps. It'd fit his booming voice, at the least.

"Her name is Firglide. Firglide, meet-" Hiccup turns around in the saddle to do the verbal introductions, but finds the Nadder screeching to a halt a ways from the large man. Firglide paws at the ground and wiggles from side to side, not daring to take a step closer. Hiccup slides down from the saddle and holds out his hands for the Nadder to sniff.

"Hey, hey," he says softly, "it's just Hagrid. He's friendly - he's got fish," he amends. Toothless might understand a great deal of human language, most other dragons don't. They understand some terms like their names, 'fish' and 'attack', but terms like 'friendly' are out of reach of the general Nadder population. "He's big but he's gonna feed you. Hagrid, do you have some fish for her?"

Hagrid doesn't move, transfixed by the reptilian creature in front of him. Hiccup has to repeat his question to prompt the guy into moving. He moves quickly back into his hut and by the time he emerges he's filled a basket full of smoked fish, which he tips over a short distance from the Nadder. Even with her belly full Firglide still swallows some and even allows the Night Fury to share in the bounty.

"She's _beautiful_ ," Hagrid breathes. Hiccup lets him do the sniffing ritual and before long Hagrid pets the dragon as if she were a cat. "Look at those stingers! And her colors! And she's got claws! How far can she breathe fire?"

Hiccup patiently answers his questions and the Deadly Nadder preens under all of the attention. She's quite docile, right up until McGonagall arrives. Her pace is quick but she stops when she spots the reptile currently enjoying a chin-scratch given to her by Hagrid.

"Could you explain how this dragon got here?" she calls from a distance. Hiccup beckons for her to come closer.

"She's not going to hurt you," he says. Toothless chooses that moment to rub up against him, also eager for attention. Hiccup absentmindedly scratches the cheek of his dragon, moving into the territory of ear flaps while Toothless rumbles. "And I don't know how. One moment the sky was empty, the next she was _there_. I'd also like to know how she got here, because I recognize her from Berk."

McGonagall approaches warily, keeping her wand in her hand but not making any aggressive moves. She shouldn't have bothered - Firglide slides into a petting coma with all the attention Hagrid heaps onto her. He admires her scales, the sharpness of the stingers, and he babbles about finding her the best fish to feed. The Headmistress observes all of this and deems it safe enough to turn sideways to to the dragon rider.

"Where were you when it appeared?"

"Near the shallows. Toothless was there too, maybe he has something to do with it. She appeared about a hundred feet into the air."

Hiccup stops scratching his Night Fury and looks the reptile in the eyes. "Did you sense anything weird, Toothless?"

Toothless rumbles when the scritches stop but then registers the question. He shakes his head and McGonagall watches this interaction with eyes honed by age and experience.

"How intelligent is your dragon, mister Haddock?" she asks, cutting to the chase.

Hiccup pats Toothless on the head. "He's the smartest of all the dragons I know," he says with pride in his voice. "But in human terms… about the level of a five-year old child."

That earns him a swat of an ear flap on the back of his head. "What, Toothless?" Hiccup argues, rubbing the sore spot. "That puts you way above Ruff and Tuff, at the very least. And Snotlout."

The dragon contemplates this for a second and huffs his approval, eyes glinting. McGonagall appraises the animal with a fresh perspective. "Our dragons are mindless beasts," she says, "and few humans go near them. But there is a dragon sanctuary in Great Britain. I'll contact them about moving the- what is that species called?"

"Deadly Nadder," Hiccup replies.

"We'll move the Deadly Nadder there," McGonagall continues, but the dragon rider shakes his head.

"Firglide will be killed if we move her there. Nadders usually hunt in packs and it's a smaller dragon. If your dragons really are mindless beasts, I don't think she'll survive. I'll keep-"

"I'll keep an eye on her," Hagrid interjects. "She's very friendly and I'll make sure no students harm her."

The Headmistress thinks about this for a second, observing the relative size of the Nadder versus Hagrid, and comes to the same conclusion Hiccup has: Firglide is in good hands, as is the castle.

"I entrust the care of this dragon to you, Rubeus. Mister Haddock, could you show me where this Deadly Nadder appeared?"

* * *

**Glossary**

Ereyesterday - the day before yesterday.


	6. Chapter 6

Despite the Headmistress checking out every square inch of sky, she finds no explanation for the Deadly Nadder popping into existence over the Hogwarts lake. So Hiccup goes back to exploring the castle, leaving Toothless to check out the edge of the Forbidden Forest. If another dragon appears, they'll at least know which of the two is the cause of it. And the castle is an alluring mystery, enticing him into explorings its nooks and crannies. It's the biggest building he's seen so far and somehow all of the rooms combined don't add up to the space it occupies on the outside. It seems to be bigger on the inside, somehow. 

But all Hiccup thinks of when he finds a large set of double doors is Fishlegs. He'd go nuts and then faint from excitement over the library Hiccup finds himself in. Shelves and shelves of books fill the space from top to bottom, more books than he's ever seen, maybe even more books than he'd accumulative seen in his lifetime. It is eerily silent in the large room despite students sitting at the various tables and Hiccup is aware of the clink of his metal foot on the stones as he makes his way past the glaring woman with the pinched face. When she spots his prosthetic limb she doesn't comment and her gaze softens the slightest bit. Hiccup gives her a wan smile and makes his way past the tables where students sit, scribbling words as fast as the ink flows. Here and there he hears whispers but they never become more than the barest of breaths. 

The book of dragons is important to Berk and Hiccup has added a lot of information to it, but while his village treasures just one book, here there are thousands if not tens of thousands of books. He chooses a random row and pulls a random book from the shelf, not caring which one he grabs. What kind of information must this hallowed room hold! A thousand years of knowledge, all gathered here for children to read and learn from. Metallurgy he's never even heard of, knowledge about the gods and the wind, about building those glass buildings and driving the self-propelling vehicles. And about magic, of course, this secret society where people wield sticks and make objects appear from thin air. But Hiccup knows he will never be able to learn that magic - he'd have shown signs of it if he has it, apparently. It doesn't matter, he still has an entire archipelago to explore back home, a village to lead and he will dedicate his life to settling the war between Vikings and dragons. 

But knowledge about Gronckle Iron could come in handy. Maybe the wizards know some more applications of this wonderful light and strong metal. 

With a heart thumping with excitement he opens the book… and can't read the words on the page. The spell which enables him to understand spoken language doesn't apply to the written word, it seems. 

As fast as the excitement rose, it plummets even faster. His inner Fishlegs groans in disappointment as he flips through the book, scanning the pages for any characters he recognizes. But the runes are unfamiliar and there aren't enough pictures to even form an understanding what the book is about in the first place. 

Some of the characters approach the runes he knows, but there are too many unknowns to form a coherent picture. Hiccup puts the book back and grabs another one. He squints at the title page. That one could be an 'O' and there is one character which is either a 'V' or an 'U' and the 'K' is backwards. He can guess at which of these characters are vowels but other than that…

So much for learning the accumulated knowledge of a thousand years, then. With a huff Hiccup puts the book back in its proper place and with regret turns his back to the library. Maybe, if he sticks around long enough, he could learn to read this language and then come back. But if more dragons pop up, it means that the island of Berk will be deprived of the necessary dragons for defense. And he misses Fishlegs, he misses Astrid and everyone he knows. If a portal opens up right now, he would call Toothless and go through without even looking back.

For a moment he holds his breath, willing it to happen, but of course nothing appears in the corridor filled with torches and statues, paintings and elaborate marble. Hogwarts is a beautiful place but he'd trade it for his hut any day. 

With a deep sigh of regret Hiccup trudges on, exploring more of the castle even as the bell rings and the hallway fills with students. 

XXX

Firglide has found a home with Hagrid. The man is reluctant to let the dragon out of his sight, even as he teaches a few classes. Hiccup sticks around for the first few hours, teaching Hagrid how to let Firglide meet new people. The Deadly Nadder is curious and welcoming as long as whoever wants to meet her presents a fish. At this rate the dragon will get fat, because a lot of students want to see the dragon up close.

“So your class is literally called 'Care of Magical Creatures',” Hiccup sums up as he watches a student nervously stretch out a hand to let the Nadder sniff it. There are a pack of the children whom refuse to get close to the large reptile, but most of the students are eager to meet and touch a live dragon. 

“What'd'ya think it was about?” Hagrid asks, also keeping an eye on both student and dragon. They needn't have bothered, because Firglide pushes forward and the student gasps in awe as the dry reptilian sky rasps against his own. 

“Husbandry,” Hiccup replies. Hagrid laughs a full belly-laugh. 

“You thought we raise Thestrals for milk?” Hagrid asks. Hiccup shrugs, eying the skeletal horses gathered in a paddock a ways away. Flight-capable horses with faces as thin as his fore-arm is the stuff of legends in his book. No doubt Gobber would make up a song or two if he ever came across one of these. 

“You fly on broomsticks and have self-propelling carts and have never heard of Terrible Terrors. Your 'normal' is definitely not my 'normal'.” 

Hagrid claps the smaller man on the back and Hiccup winces but is quite used to this type of behavior. It's the reason he wears a padded flight suite most days - well, that, and if he falls off Toothless he won't break every bone in his body on landing. “Fair point,” Hagrid concedes. 

When the last student who wants to meet the Nadder has gotten accepted in turn by the dragon, Hagrid steps forward.

“She is very fascinating, but unfortunately this lesson is not about her, and you kids have got a paper to write about Thestrals. So, Firglide, please go back to your nest.” Hagrid points towards the shelter he's built for her. The shelter is open on two sides and houses hay and a … stuffed animal. Hiccup makes a mental note to remove the hay before nighttime and convince Hagrid that really, dragons prefer inflammable stone over material which will become an inferno the moment they breathe fire in their sleep. 

The Deadly Nadder, sated with more fish than she'll be able to eat in two days, obligingly saunters over to the makeshift nest to the chorus of disappointed 'awww's the students utter. 

“But Professor, can't the paper be about her instead?” one student offers. 

“Yeah!” another continues. “Instead of learning from books, we can get hands-on experience!”

“Discover a new species for ourselves!” 

More and more students add their own arguments to the pile, ranging from 'it's the best way to learn' to 'when will we ever get a chance like this again?' Those who have stayed behind mutter protests but the majority shouts over them, excitement obvious in their rosy cheeks - it is a cold day and although they're bundled up, the wind sheer puts the temperature just above freezing. 

Hagrid looks longingly back at the retreating dragon. “I think mister Hiccup already knows a lot about this dragon, it's not like we're discovering a new species,” Hagrid argues, but his tone is lackluster. 

Hiccup, general of his own elite troop of dragon riders and planner of many a plan, sees where this is heading. “I can teach you some things about dragons,” he concedes. “If that's alright with you, Professor Hagrid.” 

The giant man looks pleased as Polichinello and the students get out their parchment and feathers. Hiccup looks around for Toothless and finds the Night Fury far away, near the tree line of the Forbidden Forest. He pounces on some moving leaves but his ear flaps perk up when Hiccup calls for him. 

The Night Fury grabs a large stick from a pile of branches and bounds over to his rider. Hiccup takes a moment to greet his best friend and throws the stick once to appease the Night Fury, much to the amusement of the students. 

“Most dragons are playful,” he begins his explanation. “In age, Toothless is quite close to me, mid-twenties. It's part of why we get along so well. Don't we, bud?” 

Hiccup scratches his dragon and Toothless rumbles happily, leaning into the touch. When Hiccup suddenly lets go the dragon overbalances and has to correct himself. 

“But respect also plays a large part. It's why you have to greet a new dragon with some food or something else it wants to make it trust you. But once you've gained their trust, they're loyal creatures. Betray that trust…” 

He lets the sentence dangle and a lot of eyes move to his artificial foot. He shakes it for good measure. “I got this because Toothless rescued me from a Red Death,” Hiccup explains. He rubs the dragon on the head. “I took his fin, and hey, peg leg. But still alive.” 

The Night Fury warbles and Hiccup removes his hands from the dragon. “Next thing you need to know about dragons - they're smart, smarter than you think. Some of them hunt in packs, some, like the Night Fury, are solitary. I've seen dragons the size of a mountain and back home we use the small dragons, Terrible Terrors, to send mail. I don't know where they've all gone in your time, but on Berk we've learned to live with dragons. Take Toothless, for example.” 

Toothless perks up and sits back, wings spreading out. “He's a Strike Class dragon, a powerful class. Speedy, accurate, and can navigate through all kinds of terrain. Toothless here is a Night Fury, and he doesn't use fire, but plasma. Show them, bud.” 

The poor pumpkin never saw it coming. One moment it shines its orange hue into the air, proud of its thick skin and juicy insides, the next it's a burnt out husk of a vegetable. 

“Oy, not the pumpkins!” Hagrid interrupts and Toothless looks chastised, ear flaps swiveled back. 

“Most dragons in the strike class have a unique fire.” 

The students listen with rapt attention as Hiccup tells them about the other classes, some dragons he's encountered and what was special about them. Sometimes he uses Toothless to demonstrate something, like the way the pupils dilate when threatened and what that means when approaching a new dragon. 

Before Hiccup has realized that any time has passed the school bell sounds across the land and the students groan with disappointment, even those whom at first were reluctant to meet Firglide. Not long after a new class replaces the old one and the introductions start anew. Hiccup finds himself teaching every single class that day, even though both Toothless and Firglide eventually wander off, done with being the object of several demonstrations. Hagrid listens with a notebook in his hands, writing down the new facts that spring to mind every class. 

When the sun begins to set Hagrid offers the man a butterbeer and Hiccup gratefully takes it. Talking all day has parched his throat and although he's drank a lot of water, the smooth drink goes down easily and Hiccup sighs with contentment.

“How did you find out so much about dragons?” Hagrid asks. Hiccup nurses the butterbeer and keeps an eye out for his dragon. Dinner is about to be served in the Great Hall and Toothless has to be getting hungry by now.

“Exploring the archipelago, writing everything down, and geeking out,” Hiccup replies. The tiny tang of alcohol is apparent in the drink, which makes him long for home far more than potatoes and zucchini do. The water is the cleanest he's ever drank but as he looks down at his butterbeer there's absolutely no debris swirling around, nothing to indicate that it's a brewed and fermented drink. It's all so... clean. 

“I know I'm not supposed to say this,” Hagrid says, “but I kind of hope that more dragons from your time show up.” 

XXX

It's as if those words release some kind of curse upon Hogwarts. The first two days, nothing's the matter - Hiccup teaches more classes, more and more students dare to approach Firglide and Toothless and the wound on the Night Fury's wing is healing nicely. A few more days and they can start flying again.

The third night a Gronckle appears. A green one, disoriented and spewing molten rock everywhere. Hiccup entices it down to the ground with offerings of pebbles taken from the lakeside. 

“Hey there, big guy,” Hiccup says, throwing the stones into the waiting maw. The Gronckle accepts them readily and chews a few times. The curious eyes rove over the alert Night Fury and Hiccup uses the distraction to grab some more pebbles from the ground. He takes a step closer and lets the Gronckle sniff out his scent mixed with pebbles. It opens up its mouth again and Hiccup deposits the pebbles, rubbing the Gronckle over the head with his other hand. “Yeah, you're a good dragon,” Hiccup says. “But I don't think you're from Berk. But you want some more pebbles? And meet a Nadder? I know just the spot where you can find a lot of rocks. C'mon.” 

Hagrid loves the Gronckle. He can't stop staring at it from the moment Hiccup leads it into the pen Hagrid has built for Firglide. “It's like a fat bee, only a dragon,” he observes. “Is he one of yours? Does he have a name?” 

“Yes and no,” Hiccup replies. He eyes the large man. “Do you want to name him?” he asks. The grown adult nearly giggles. He moves closer to the Gronckle and pats it on the head. He'll never be able to ride it, he'd squash it. They are pets to him, Hiccup realizes. 

“What's a good name for you, fella? You seem like a… Darrel.” 

The Gronckle doesn't react until Hagrid repeats the name and puts his gigantic hand underneath the dragon's jaw. Then the Gronckle puts its tongue out and pants.

“I think he likes it. Darrel it is, then,” Hagrid decides. He turns back to Hiccup and starts talking rapidly. “What does he eat? Can he survive in the pen? Does he get along with Deadly Nadders?” 

In the meantime, Darrel gets his head out of Hagrid's gentle hold and begins to explore the pen. The pen is a simple holding area with troughs for water and fish - essential to keep the Deadly Nadder around. Firglide has learned that Hagrid will feed it every day and give it all of the attention it needs. 

“Gronckles are social dragons,” Hiccup explains. “They live in groups, are loyal to one another and they're a drasacking bunch. They don't often fight with other dragons, so I'm sure he and Firglide will get along.” 

A crunch sounds behind Hiccup and he winces as he recognized the sound. for what they eat,” Hiccup begins, gesturing towards Hagrid's hut, “they eat rocks.” Pebbles clatter to the ground as Darrel chews the bits of the bite he's taken out of the stone hut. Hagrid isn't that bothered, only fascinated. 

"Rocks? What kind? How many a day?” 

“You're going to keep Darrel here as well?” Hiccup asks, and the giant man nods.

"We're going to need a book of dragons.”

XXX

Slowly the class called 'Care of Magical Creatures' turns into 'Caring for Dragons' as another Gronckle and Deadly Nadder show up in two consecutive days, along with a Terrible Terror which flees into the Forbidden Forest. Toothless' wing is a day away from being healed enough for a test flight, and Hiccup does his level best to call the Terror back to safety. But the critter throws itself headlong into trouble, like they usually do. 

“I'm sorry Mister Haddock, we can't launch an expedition into the forest,” McGonagall replies to Hiccup's inquiry. 

“But the little guy is going to get eaten like a nine mile nuts out there!” Hiccup argues. “I'm not sure what kind of creatures live in there, but they had Toothless spooked. And he's a Night Fury.” 

The Headmistress keeps on walking in the corridor and Hiccup keeps pace with her, dodging students left and right. The students sweep out of the Headmistress' way, but that is no wonder - she walks like a chief. Which brings the students directly into Hiccup's path. Some of them greet the pair, but most of them hurry past, eyes fixed on the classroom they're making haste towards. 

“I'm not willing to risk the lives of my teachers on this rescue mission. If this 'Terrible Terror' is a dragon, it can defend itself for one day. Because I'm sure you're going to follow it when your dragon's wing is healed tomorrow.” 

“Of course I am!” Hiccup replies in a borderline disrespectful 'duh' tone. The poor thing could've been eaten by a tree or something - he's seen the Whomping Willow. “Also, why is there such a dangerous forest right outside a castle filled with children?” 

McGonagall nods at a fellow teacher but keeps gliding across the hallways. She doesn't immediately answer. 

“Because, Mr. Haddock, the wizarding world is built on traditions.” 

And that's all she has to say about that. Hiccup bumps into a kid, spilling his book bag over the stones. By the time he has helped pick all of it up the Headmistress is gone. He's gotten his answer, even if he doesn't like it. 

By the time he's back at Hagrid's hut, he has a plan.

XXX

Night Furies are exceptionally intelligent, but even they don't understand abstract terms like 'two weeks recovery time'. A concept like 'tomorrow', however, is well within Toothless' grasp. So Toothless is remarkably patient while his rider inspects the wound one more time in the brightest patch of sunlight he can find. Toothless relishes the weight of the saddle across his back - it means that he'll take to the skies again. The fin is installed, the saddlebags filled with provisions. 

The previous night Hiccup had explained that 'tomorrow' they'd head out and try to find the Terrible Terror which fled into the forest. Toothless wriggles with excitement and the night takes way too long to turn into day. He's been patient at breakfast, he's been patient as Hiccup dons his flight suit and leads the Night Fury outside. 

The poking and prodding at the sensitive membrane of his wing, he endures. It'll do him no good to rip it apart on the first test flight. Not with a lot of curious children milling around the grounds. 

The cycle of these foreign children is a predictable one, Toothless has found out. For five days, they are busy inside the huge stone building, and two are spent on playing, reading and generally activities outside the castle. It's one of the two play-days. When Hiccup has led Toothless outside in full gear, some curious kids wander over. They send off messages back to their friends via the birds they use to communicate - the birds Toothless isn't allowed to scare - and more humans pour forth from the castle while Hiccup inspects the former wound. 

“Your wing looks alright to me. What do you think, Toothless?” Hiccup asks. Toothless roars in reply. His wing feels fine, it felt fine yesterday, he wants wind streaming underneath his wings and to touch the clouds again. He hates being this cooped up. Every vein under his skin thrums with energy and the heat in his belly wants to get out. 

“Alright, fair enough,” Hiccup says with a chuckle. With the ease of a thousand moments he hoists himself into the saddle, flips his artificial foot around and clicks it into place. The fin capable of grounding an adult Night Fury if it malfunctions fans out. Toothless hears the big man exit the hut behind him and he exclaims something. With a flair for the dramatic Toothless spreads his wings as wide as they can go and some children gasp.

“Showoff,” Hiccup grumbles good-naturedly. Toothless flaps his wings in reply, once, twice. The wound feels like a bruise, but a small one. He can keep going, although this isn't going to be their longest flight ever. The ground disappears underneath them and Toothless cries out his joy to the skies, there where he belongs. Hiccup himself whoops and allows Toothless to set the pace, offering no guiding hand on where he wants to go. So Toothless banks to the right and glides across the lake, descending a little so he won't have to flap his wings. The gaping humans disappear into the distance as Toothless circles the castle. 

There are more aspects to these grounds than Toothless has explored thus far. There are lines of white on the ground, surrounded by multi-colored towers. There's a separate stone tower, where the messenger birds flit in and out of. The green of the dense forest spreads as far as Toothless can see from this altitude. 

“You doing alright, bud?” Hiccup asks. Toothless gives him a happy warble. The membranes of his wing hold up and the pain is nothing but an annoyance. Being up here is so much more important to the both of them. 

“Wanna go look for the Terror?” his rider asks. Toothless' response is to turn his direction to the edge of the vast expanse of green. As they shoot across the grounds he sees the kids pointing and waving and yelling something. Hiccup steers him a little lower and Toothless complies. They cross the hut where they'd been holed up the first day and are finally across the edge of the forest. The yells of the kids and the big man disappear into the distance as they skim the treetops. 

A delicious smell hits Toothless' nostrils. Fish so fresh it has been killed barely an hour ago. His teeth automatically appear but his rider only dangles the fish out behind him and it doesn't look like the treat belongs to Toothless. 

He gives a disappointed snort and Hiccup pats him on the head a few times. “I've got fish for you in the castle, Toothless.” He raises his voice and calls for the Terrible Terror, waving the fish to and front. They zigzag across the treetops, Hiccup calling and calling. Even Toothless joins in now and then, roaring a gentle roar to assure the Terrible Terror that they're friendly, there's fish for him, Toothless isn't going to eat him. 

The sun is six lengths from the horizon when an answering call resounds. Good thing, because the ache in Toothless' wing is becoming unbearable. 

“Hey there, little guy,” Hiccup croaks. His voice is almost gone, but the Terror only has eyes for the fish. Slowly it lets go of the branch of the tree he was perched upon and joins Toothless in the air. Toothless croons - he doesn't want the tiny dragon to fly off again and repeat this whole endeavor tomorrow. His wing is not going take it. 

When the Terror snatches the fish from Hiccup's fingers he bops it softly on the snout. “There's more fish at the castle,” he says. The tiny dragon has fresh scratches across its hide and blood glistens between the scales, so it's no wonder that it plops itself behind Hiccup on the saddle and digs its claws into the leather. 

Without having to be prompted Toothless turns back to the castle. It's a small distance compared to the distances he usually flies to hop between islands in the archipelago, but it still hurts. 

“We've been out too long, haven't we?” Hiccup asks as he notices that Toothless grits his teeth against the pain. Toothless rumbles an agreement. “Thanks, Toothless,” Hiccup says, and the gratitude is genuine. It soothes the pain a little, but still, he's glad he can land at the edge of the forest and rest his wing.

There are still children out there, although a lot fewer than before. They stare as Hiccup lifts the small dragon from its perch and holds it in his arms. 

“It's okay,” he shushes the agitated Terror, “they're not going to hurt you. I'm just going to check your wounds and give you some fish, then you can play outside in the pen, alright?” 

He allows the dragon to crawl up his arms and settle around his neck like an overgrown scaly coat. “But first I'm going to take care of Toothless,” he says. Kids approach and begin to ask all kinds of questions, but all that matters are the sure and steady hands kneading away the pain on his wings. Ever since coming to this place there has been a lot of things which don't make sense to the Night Fury, but as long as he has his rider, he knows things will work out okay. 

XXX

Two more days of healing and Hiccup is sure that Toothless is back to normal. His scales shine, he has a healthy appetite and he doesn't even react when Hiccup touches the off-color membrane where the rip used to be. They've flown short distances after they'd recovered the Terrible Terror… and two more Terrors have shown up in the meantime. Thankfully they didn't flee into the Forbidden Forest but could be corralled into the pen, where they're content to stay as long as Hagrid gives them plenty of fish. 

The students of Hogwarts are certainly not back to normal. They've patiently listened to his explanations about dragons, they've accepted him as someone who knows a lot about those reptiles. They might understand that he actually rides one, but there's a world of difference between hearing about it and seeing it in the flesh. 

Ever since the first flight there have been scores of hopeful students milling about the dragons, hoping to see them take off or land. There have been multiple requests to let someone else ride Toothless, but Hiccup has turned every single one of those down. He trusts his fellow dragon riders on his Night Fury, but not an untrained eleven-year old kid whose head doesn't even reach Hiccup's shoulders - and he knows he isn't the tallest Viking around. 

There have been questions at the dinner table, at the breakfast table, every time Hiccup ventures into the castle. It became so bad that he's taken to rising with the sun, eating a quick breakfast before the students are awake, gathering up enough to make a lunch out in the field and keep away from the castle until last call for dinner sounds. 

But there is one request Hiccup can't deny. 

“Quidditch?” he asks. He's seen the students out on broomsticks, but he thought they'd been practicing riding one. 

“Yeah!” the student in front of him replies with so much enthusiasm thrown into his voice that he keeps on fumbling the proper words. The guy is taller than Hiccup, with ash-blond hair and a slightly crooked nose. His clothes place him in Gryffindor and his name is Hector, although he can just as easily be called Thor Bonecrusher if you look at his size. 

“We wanna hold a test match, you and your dragon can blow off some steam and it'll be good practice for us to go up against something we've never done before! The rules are very simple, you just got to put the Quaffle through the goal posts before you get hit by a Bludger or the Snitch gets caught.” 

Hiccup takes a moment to process those words. “Yes, that made absolute sense,” he says. 

“Oh, right,” Hector realizes belatedly. He explains the rules anew, this time using simple words like 'the ball' and 'the ball which tries to beat you off your broom, dragon in your case, but don't worry, it won't attempt to kill you', which is not as reassuring as Hector assumes. 

In the end, Hiccup agrees. In case he'll have to flee from broom-riding seidr-practitioners - wizards - again, he knows what they're capable of. And he always likes knowing what kind of tricks other people have up their sleeve. 

XXX

 

Drasacking bunch - Idle, slow, dragging. 

Nine mile nuts - sustaining food (chestnuts).


	7. Chapter 7

The grounds where Quidditch is played are vast, the hoops big enough for Toothless to slip through if he folds in his wings and Hiccup squeezes himself against the saddle. It's breezy but the sun shines bright and the stands are packed with students. Half of Hogwarts has turned up by the looks of it. 

Hiccup presses a final time on the healed wound and looks Toothless in the eye. “You okay to do this, bud?” he asks. Toothless gives him a shit-eating grin and the last anxiety gripping Hiccup's heart disappears. His dragon is well and truly healed, and the road back to Berk becomes a little less bumpy. Tomorrow he's going to fly back to the city he'd appeared in in the first place, whether the Ministry likes it or not, and he's going to demand that they find a way back home for the two of them. After the initial apology for transporting them here there has been one letter addressed to him which Hagrid had to read out loud, which came down to 'no news, we're working on it'. 

Right now, they have a moment to prove that they are the best damn aerial team out there before they go back home, where all of Berk knows this fact. 

Hiccup trails his hand along Toothless' scales as he walks to the saddle, offering up an encouraging pat before he mounts his Night Fury and clicks his foot into position. Together they walk out onto the field where the roar of enthusiastic students greets them. Some of them are decked out in their house colors but most of them thankfully wear their school uniforms with little decoration. 

“Sorry, word got out about the match,” Hector apologizes as he walks up to Toothless. 

“That's okay,” Hiccup replies, “back on Berk we used to have competitions as well. Howbeit we used sheep instead of balls.” 

The rules of this match are a little different from standard Quidditch rules. There's no Seeker in the game - mainly because the Seeker of the opposing team is laid up in the Hospital Wing for, and Hiccup could hardly believe it, growing carrots from his ears. How and why, he did not ask. Privately he's already decided to keep the existence of magic far, far away from Ruffnut and Tuffnut. His heart twinges at the thought what havoc the twins could wreak should they find out that they have magic in their blood. He's still somewhat convinced that the two of them are Loki reincarnate, and having magic fits right up their alley. The more time he spends at Hogwarts, the more convinced he is that those two must have some kind of magic, because no one is that stupid and lucky at the same time, escaping death and serious injury time after time. He's seen Tuffnut fling himself off a cliff and survive with only his shoulder and his pride bruised. His pride, because he missed the bullseye. 

So to keep things fair, if a player spots the Snitch, they can go after it themselves. There are, however, Bludgers and Beaters zooming around. They've been slowed down a lot, though, because injuring the just-healed dragon is needless animal cruelty. 

Gryffindor's reserves have been called into action for this match. Hiccup and Toothless are on their side while the main team are their opponents. The Seeker has been turned into an extra Chaser. All in all it's basically a game of toss-the-sheep with extra danger in the form of the black balls. 

“Are the players ready?” the referee asks. She's the one teaching the young kids how to ride a broom. Her hair is always windswept, bright green, matching her startlingly green eyes. Hiccup has yet to gather up the courage to ask her if she's related to or a descendant of the Disir, the female guardian spirits. No human he's ever seen has hair that vivid green. 

Toothless roars overrules the cheers from the stands and the students whoop and laugh. “Get them, Toothless!” some of them yell. 

“Go!” 

Hiccup holds on as Toothless jumps into the sky, flapping like mad, his face turned to the wide expanse of air above them both. The Night Fury's belly rumbles as he stops his vertical climb and banks left, allowing Hiccup to survey the field.

The referee has thrown the ball into the air and the opposing team snatched it. They speed towards the goal, throwing the ball from one person to the next to keep the others on their toes. There are rules about bumping into each other, grabbing brooms and all kinds of contact, but apparently batting a Bludger at close range at a Chaser to make him drop the ball is legal. 

Hiccup steers Toothless to the edge of the field, opening himself up to his team. A black mass the size of a Night Fury is hard to miss in broad daylight, so the Chaser on his team passes the ball to him. Toothless crows and speeds up while for one of the few times in his life Hiccup keeps hold of the ball. He's usually terrible at Viking sports, but this ball clings to his fingers. The goalposts are in sight and Toothless aims for the left one. The Keeper bars it with her body but Hiccup spots a gap. He raises himself on the saddle to throw it - and the ball is snatched from his outstretched hand by a Chaser flying upside-down. 

One of the advantages of having a smaller dragon is that they're maneuverable. Snotlout with his Monstrous Nightmare would pass the goalpost, fly out of the stadium and then be able to turn around. 

Toothless, on the other hand, jerks down his tail, snaps open his wings, flaps once to generate the lift he needs to stay airborne and the resulting gale blows back the hair on the blonde Keepers' head. He flaps once more to flip back around and corkscrews his way upright. They're out of the game for a max of three seconds and the crowd loves it. Hiccup grins and grabs the handlebars a little tighter. 

For the first fifteen minutes of the game Hiccup observes to get a feel for the game. They fly back and forth on the outer edge, providing back-up for the Chaser in the middle. The guy works hard - the main Gryffindor team is good, even Hiccup can tell that. With barely a word spoken they perform difficult maneuvers. Flying upside-down on a broom is nothing compared to the misdirection of two Chasers and a Beater before chucking the ball through the hoop after feinting right. And all that by one person. 

Like any dragon trainer, Hiccup knows the mind of his Night Fury. The muscles underneath him grow tense whenever the opposing team scores. Toothless loves games, but he loves winning even more. Hiccup's team is behind by fifty points. The Snitch is also around, but he hasn't caught more than a glimpse of that tiny ball, so it's not worth going after right now. 

The other players become more daring towards rider and dragon as the game progresses. At first, nobody dares beat a Bludger in his direction but as time passes they notice a few facts. First, Toothless is a smart cookie and predicts trajectories of balls and therefore avoids them. Second, Toothless grasps the rules of the game. He holds off on biting players, brooms, scratching and throwing fire around like the wizards are taught dragons do willy-nilly. Third, the Night Fury is the best dragon on Berk, perhaps even the archipelago, in terms of speed. 

“Good job!” Hiccup praises as the Chaser of his team scores. It's a mistake on the part of the Gryffindor Keeper and the girl berates herself as she dives after the ball. With a seconds hesitation she throws it towards one of her teammates. The mistake costs her a bit of confidence. 

“Thanks!” the Chaser yells back as he speeds by on his broom while Toothless keeps position in mid-air, wings flapping to keep on hovering. Hiccup takes the moment's reprieve to take note of the position of the Bludgers. They won't bother him if they zigzag, and then the Chaser of the opposing team will try to cut him off, by Toothless can roll left and- 

The Snitch whips by.

So far Hiccup has only assisted in passing the ball to the experienced Chasers, but every iota of experience of training his friends to become the dragon riders of Berk screams at him to take charge. The captain of his team is a decent kid with a good strategy… But Hiccup has fought wars in the air. 

This all disappears to the background as Toothless snaps forward, taking Hiccup and his churning mind with him. 

“Go for it!” the same Chaser calls before a Bludger narrowly misses the back of his broom and he's forced to pay attention to the game again. 

Hiccup bents low to the saddle, content to let his dragon track the speck of gold flitting about. Toothless twirls and rolls, dives and flips to keep close to the ball. The crowd 'ooh's' at the aerial display while Hiccup tunes them out. It has become second nature to him to operate the fin, but the Night Fury pulls all kinds of tricks to keep up with the ball which switches direction faster than Toothless can. On a home stretch they outclass it, but the golden ball is tiny and easily lost against the backdrop of colored banners and towers, not to mention the glaring light of the sun. 

“Get it Toothless,” Hiccup pants. He has to keep both hands on the handlebars just to keep up. Toothless growls in frustration and opens his mouth. “No blasting!” the rider scolds and with a grumble the dragon obeys. In the momentary distraction the Snitch has escaped and hovers near the ground. Hiccup braces himself for what Toothless is about to do. Nevertheless, his stomach stays somewhere at the height of the towers while the rest of him plummets downwards, holding on for the ride. 

The wind whistles past the large wings of the Night Fury, a sound which used to strike terror in the hearts of citizens of Berk. But now it means that Hiccup and Toothless are having the time of their lives.

“Yeah baby!” he calls as Toothless folds in his wings to gain even more speed. People in the crowd give a collective gasp as the ground comes closer and closer and they show no signs of stopping. The Snitch has no idea what's coming for it. 

At the last possible second the expanse of black unfolds and Toothless spits plasma at the ground, using the sudden blast of hot air to transfer the downwards force into a horizontal one by angling his wings and tail just right. Hiccup has misjudged this moment a few times in the past and the resulting crash wasn't a pretty one. This time he gets it right and they shoot forwards like a midnight streak made of pure speed. 

Toothless opens his mouth to catch the tiny golden ball but the Snitch shoots upwards. Hiccup raises his hand, he can catch it, he can, his hand brushes the silver wings and he closes his fist around it but the feathery wing slips out of his grasp, his pinky finger wraps around it but the Snitch jerks free and - oh crap there's the edge of the stadium. 

“Toothless!” Hiccup cries, an involuntary note of panic in his voice. He should have activated the fin sooner, they're going to crash into the unforgiving wood. All thoughts of the Snitch escape him as he finally puts the fin in the correct position and Toothless rises again. The Night Fury flaps his mighty wings, once, twice, and why had he panicked there for a second, they clear the wooden edge and go sailing past the towers, out of bounds. 

With the mass of a dragon, this is kind of inevitable, so Hiccup had negotiated beforehand that his rule doesn't apply to them. 

As they make their way back to the pitch the announcer calls another goal of the opposing team. They used the distraction of the Night Fury chasing the Snitch to score two more times, bringing the score to 90-30. 

“Want to even up the score, bud?” Hiccup asks. Toothless roars his approval. Together they move themselves smack dab in the center of the game. They are done hanging about on the edge. 

The game moves quick, very quick, but they've both had time to analyze the moves of their opponents and their own team. In real life there usually wasn't much time to get to know the patterns of their enemy, so they are both trained in pattern recognition and risk analysis. This time there's no Dagur shooting chains at them, no Whispering Death on their tail and no Red Death blasting white-hot fire through nooks in the clouds - there is just the ball and those who wish to have it. 

The opposing Chasers are intimidated at the sheer size of the dragon compared to their own brooms. The first few times all Hiccup has to do to break through their defenses is charge at them head-on and they scatter. He passes the ball a few times to his fellow Chasers so they can take the shot, but aims for the hoops himself three times - missing two but landing one. 

“Heads up!” the blonde Keeper shouts, chucking the ball to one of her Chasers. The next time Hiccup tries to charge he gets two Bludgers sent his way, so he and Toothless barrel-roll out of there before they make contact. A new tactic is needed. 

Hiccup is a decent shot, but his dragon is infinitely better at targeting. With the special grip the ball has - magical? - a plan sparks in Hiccup's mind. Toothless flips back to chase down the opponent with the ball and Hiccup uses the stupidest trick in the book.

“Hey, look!” he cries out with sincerity coloring his voice. For a split second the focus of the Chaser is off the ball, so Hiccup reaches out and smacks it out of the guy's hands. Next he throws it in front of him, angling it down. “Catch it Toothless!” he instructs. With a tiny change of angle Toothless flies over the ball. 

“You got it?” the rider asks, and the dragon gives an affirming grunt. 

The crowd gets on Hiccup's level when he makes his way back to the hoops and they cheer him on, more than a few laughing their heads off.

“That can't be legal!” Hector yells, but the referee shakes her head. 

“You are allowed to use your broom to hit the Quaffle,” she replies with mirth in her voice, green hair streaming behind her as she gets up to speed. 

“But he's holding it!” 

“He's a player. Part of one, anyway,” she says before flying after them towards the hoops. 

The Keeper is incredibly focused. She has her hands opened wide and sits loosely on her broom, ready to move in any direction. Hiccup feels Toothless' belly heat up through his shins and he jerks on one ear flap. 

“No blasting,” he reminds he Night Fury. Toothless doesn't reply but feints left. He flaps one wing incredibly hard and spins like a top out to the right. The Keeper moves left and cries out as the dragon releases the ball mid-spin and it sails through the hoop, clipping the edge but it's a goal alright. 

So many people cheer them on, it's like all of Berk is hooting on the stands. They are even more jam-packed than when they started the match and people begin to get into it. There are roars of approval and groans of frustration as the score evens out a little bit thanks to Toothless' incredible aim. With his plasma blasts he's pin-point accurate, but he's just as deadly with a ball clenched between his paws. No Chaser is crazy enough to risk those claws so all they try to do is beat Bludgers at them and disrupting their path towards the goal. They succeed at it a few times, making Toothless drop the ball as he has to spread his everything to stop in time as a Bludger whizzes by his nose. 

The opposing team begin to search for the Snitch in earnest as well, so there are only two Chasers making sure that the score doesn't go up a crazy amount. 

“No!” one of his Chasers calls, and Hiccup sees why a second later. Hector flies straight up, where the sunlight glints off the Snitch. It stays calmly up there, as steady as a hovering Gronckle. The captain is going to catch it.

“Toothless!” Hiccup commands, so sure that his dragon knows what Hiccup wants that he doesn't even say anything else. And sure enough, the Night Fury climbs straight up after the captain, muscles working hard to rise as fast as he can. The wings nearly slap Hiccup as he holds on, positioning himself on the saddle so he can ride with the movements without continually bumping against the rising and falling body. 

Hector still rises and the Snitch is still in position. The guy is just a few yards away - but so's Toothless. Hiccup knows that crashing into players is illegal, however, the Night Fury has another plan. He opens his mouth, and Hiccup recognizes the sound of the teeth sliding into place. The next second the dragon bites down on the twigs of the captain's broom and the guy's hand closes around empty air. The Snitch finally notices that someone is coming for it and it flits away. 

“Hey!” Hector, twisting his head around to see what has stopped him. The sight of the Night Fury chomping down on his broom makes him scowl but Toothless lets go and gives his dragon laugh, thawing away the anger and Hector gives a small smile. Hiccup doesn't want to think about how expensive a flying broom must be. Toothless spits out a few errant twigs. 

The shrill whistle of the referee sounds and Toothless glides past her, a smug rumble emanating from his chest.

“Penalty, fifteen feet!” the referee yells, and Hiccup signals for a time-out after the shot goes through. When the entire team has landed he first gets his dragon something to drink, but this is just an excuse to talk strategy. The Night Fury gratefully laps up the water, though. Flying like this is hard and they don't often perform this many difficult maneuvering in such a small patch of air. Usually they haul for long days and nights or only have to outmaneuver a few other dragons for fifteen minutes at the most. Not this grueling hour-long twist-and-roll fest.

“We're still troubled with the slows,” Hiccup begins, “so methinks it's time we really start looking for the Snitch out there. It's the only way we're gonna win, because the other team's better.”

The matter-of-fact way Hiccup lays that out makes his own team captain bristle. “We're not 'just' the reserves, buddy,” he protests. “We train every single week, we train maybe even harder than the first team but it's all politics who gets to fly. We deserve-”

“I always go up against better people,” Hiccup interjects. “Bigger dragons, older Vikings, smarter chiefs. More violent people.” His dragon nudges him in the back and he rubs the familiar scales of Toothless' nose, brushing over the faint scar tissue. “And we're still here. It's okay that they're better than you are, as long as you keep on and don't give up. So listen up, I think we can win if we carry out my plan. First of all, are there any rules about plasma blasts?” 

After a short parlay they are back up in the air. 

There is nothing gallant about the way their team conducts themselves after that. They fly hard, they fly smart. Formations form and disband in seconds. The team captain orders his troops left and right, continually screaming instructions - telegraphing their every move. After a few minutes of this Gryffindor's main team uses this to their advantage to predict their moves. 

And that's when their tactics change. They do the complete opposite of whatever the team captain wants, closing their ranks when he calls “spread out” and scattering when he screams at them to hold the line. The split-second of confusion is all they need, it turns out. They are well-trained, they just need an edge to bring up the score. 

Hiccup leaves them to it - he doesn't know half the formations they use and doesn't want to break their focus. There are some formations in use he's going to steal for himself back home, though, like the Hawkshead Attacking Formation. Put Hookfang at the front, Stormfly on the left and Barf and Belch on the right, no, Barf and Belch at the front. Their double heads can cover more ground and it increases the angle of attack the dragons are capable of - Toothless angles his own head and slaps him in the face with an ear flap. "Right," Hiccup says out loud, rubbing the spot his dragon hit. "Get'cha head in the game."

He focuses on finding the Snitch. The buggery little bastard is invisible a lot of times, hovering near the stands, zigzagging its way across the pitch or watching from afar, nearly out of bounds. The other team has spotted their tactic and a Chaser of the Gryffindor team is up in the sky with him, searching left and right. He has a lot more experience, but Hiccup has another set of ears and eyes. And the Night Fury is used to finding small targets - he hunts fish. 

Three times they chase the Snitch, and three times it escapes. The score is now even, but Hiccup notices his dragon is exhausting itself. It's visible in the position of the ear flaps, the panting and the lackluster barrel rolls as a stray Bludger zooms past them. If they don't end this soon, they will have to drop out. 

So the next time Toothless spots it, Hiccup pats his best friend on the head.

“Blast it up high,” he instructs while unhooking himself from the saddle. It's a risky move, but he's done it before. Toothless complies, firing three quick bursts of plasma underneath and above the Snitch, before firing a volley to the left of it. The crowd gasps at the explosions in mid-air. Hiccup and Toothless sail through the small fireball unharmed and predictably the Snitch attempts to make a break for it on the right. Hiccup kicks the fin into a spiral.

“Keep your right wing stiff,” Hiccup instructs before he stands up on the saddle. The opposing Chaser flipped his broom when the explosions broke but now chases the Snitch as well. Hiccup takes a second to flip his foot around before he bolts across the expanse of black, stepping on the ridges of the membrane and avoiding the wound. As the crowd gasps he springs into the air - but spreads his arms and legs, his flight suit catching the air. Toothless spits another blast of plasma underneath him, the hot air boosting his height. 

This time his fist closes around body of the Snitch instead of its wings as he soars through the sky like an overgrown squirrel. Unlike a squirrel he can call for his dragon, but it isn't even necessary. Toothless spirals underneath, waiting for his rider to re-join him. Hiccup laughs with sheer exhilaration as he steers towards the best friend he's ever had. The crowd bursts into applause, cheers, hoots, all kinds of expressions as he lands on the saddle, quickly hooking himself back up and operating the fin to angle them downwards. 

“He's got the Snitch!” the announcer screams, repeating himself a few times while the rest of the team rush towards him. 

“That was amazing!” the team captain yells in their ears and then it's a jumble of congratulations, people patting him on the back, Toothless licking him all over and licking all the members of the team that worked so well together, bodies smushed against him as they group-hug.

“Master dragon rider!” someone calls, and it soon turns into a chant of “master Hiccup”. He joins the team for a celebratory victory meal at the Great Hall and Toothless gets more fish than even he can eat as students sneak out and pass him the various fish present on the long tables. 

Quidditch, 'twas a fine sport. 

 

* * *

 

Glossary

Troubled with the slows - the losing boat or swimmer.


	8. Chapter 8

There are not many parts in his 'escape plan' to bring together. All he needs is a map and some supplies.

Even with his limited reading ability he can copy a map in the Geography section as long as he asks the librarian nicely. He seeks out a secluded part of the library and painstakingly copies the coastlines he will encounter when he moves further south. He'll fly to the east until he comes across the sea and then keep on going south until he encounters the river delta which, according to the letters he can make out on the map is called the 'Theaï'. These maps are a marvel of cartography and Hiccup feels privileged that they let him handle such precious information. The details are astounding. Every road, river, hill and forest is drawn and labeled. It took him a while to make sense of some of the pictures and cartographic conventions of this age - like circles to indicate the height and steepness of mountains. It makes for the easiest flight path he's ever charted. He'll follow this 'Theaï' river further inland until he locates the huge town where he'd originally landed and force the hands of the wizards. A single letter telling him 'there's no news', well, they owe him better than that. Especially now that the dragons of Berk have begun to show up. These guys have found a temporary shelter with Hagrid, but if this keeps up the whole school will be flooded with dragons and it won't take long until an accident happens, not when you mix eager but untrained students with fire-breathing lizards.

And these kids have parents -unlike a lot of people from Stoick's generation- and the parents will demand for the dragons to go. They have to take action now, while the situation is manageable.

Sneaking food out of the Great Hall is laughably easy - nobody gives him a second glance as he stuffs his pockets full of sweet bread, sandwiches made with rich ham, cheese, greens and the fruit/vegetable called 'tomato'. He waits until the tables are nearly clear to grab enough sausages to keep him on his feet for the next four days or so. If he stretches his rations, he'll last a week on the food he brings along.

Good thing the flight only lasts a day or three. They could do it in one if they haul ass, but the landscape they traverse is unfamiliar so Toothless won't be able to fly at top speed. Add in some back-tracking to make sure they aren't being followed, some time to rest and catch a few fish, and they end up in the vicinity of three days.

“Alright Toothless,” Hiccup whispers to his dragon, “we're making a break for London.” At a questioning look he elaborates. “The village with the glass and the lights where we landed when we got out. With the carts.” He probably shouldn't have to whisper, but magic is an unknown force and perhaps there are spells to catch his words and transmit them elsewhere.

He saddles the Night Fury, stuffing the saddle bags with the food, the maps and every gadget he had with him when he first got here. The Headmistress has provided him with a few sets of clothes, or rather, she copied the clothes he usually wears underneath his flight suit and made a piece of cloth dance in the air until it became a pair of pants. She did the same with a few sweaters and undershirts and then told him to deposit his dirty clothes in a specific basket and he'd find fresh ones in the morning. Had to be a magic thing. Not having to do laundry freed up more time for him to copy maps in the library so that was alright by him. He's never deposited the outer part of his flight suit into the basket though. If they mess it up he won't have anything to fly alongside Toothless with.

Toothless chirps his understanding and stretches out his wings inside the room they share. He touches both walls and the wide open sky beckons. It's been too long since they've been on a journey together, discovering new sights. The Quidditch match was fun - a lot of fun - but it's no substitute for exploring the archipelago with his friends.

“Alright, let's make sure there are no enemy ships on the horizon,” Hiccup says as he walks up to the window. Predictably his dragon follows and sits right behind him, trapping the human underneath his head as they both peer out. There are no teachers outside, nor any students hurrying to or from class. Class have already begun and although it's broad daylight, there's no better moment to leave. Hiccup made sure to take a few forays over the Forbidden Forest these past two days so it won't look suspicious if they go back there again.

At night there are bound to be sentries. At least, he'd have sentries patrolling the grounds, and the Headmistress seems like a smart chief.

Quickly Hiccup opens the window, slides out and beckons for Toothless to jump through. The Night Fury folds back his wings and slips through, wriggling a bit to get the broadest part of his body past the windowsill.

“Sssh Toothless,” Hiccup hisses as Toothless grunts his discontent with the window. “They think we're taking an afternoon nap.” He mounts his loyal friend and jabs his feet lightly into the dragon's hide, signaling that Toothless should take off. With two powerful beats of the wing they are airborne and the next propels them forwards.

“Fast as you can, Toothless,” Hiccup says, hunkering down on the saddle and gripping the handlebars. The Night Fury accelerates in the way they haven't been able to during the Quidditch match. He's glad to see that his dragon hasn't lost a smidgen of power to the wound in his wing. The grounds whizzes by underneath them and there's Hagrid's hut - a pang of regret shoots through Hiccup but he doesn't have the luxury of goodbyes. The giant man, loyal to his chief, would attempt to stop them. The dragons are in good hands for now, even if Hiccup escapes, Hagrid will look after them.

The mountains fade into the distance but still the forest stretches on. Hogwarts disappears into the blue haze of the horizon as Toothless climbs above the clouds. Up here it's silent and Hiccup realizes that he's missed that - just the two of them, no students waving and gawking, no vegetable gardens to seed, nothing but a step forward on their journey back home. Now that he's beyond the grasp of wizards some of the tension slips from his shoulders. Toothless still flies fast but Hiccup moves easily with him, his mind already whirring away at how he's going to locate the wizards in the huge town of London.

And there's still a chance of a gaggle of stick-wielding Ministry people popping up out of nowhere.

The landscape in the distance starts to glitter - the sea. Roads twist through the hilly terrain and multicolored dots crawl along them. From this distance they seem to stand still. Humans have tamed a lot more of the world than Hiccup is used to. Straight tracks cut through valleys, cross wide rivers on stilts made of thin metal and the elongated vehicle moving across the tracks is faster than Toothless. There are harbors along the coast, showcasing ships easily five times the size of Berk's biggest one. The sheer size of the buildings Hiccup spots down below is astonishing. He can only guess at their function, because no human needs that big of a Great Hall to hold feasts in.

The chance of another Berkian dragon popping into existence hadn't even crossed Hiccup's mind as a risk he'd have to think of. All of them so far have shown up near Hogwarts, but Toothless has to roll out of the way of the rather sizable reptile appearing in their flight path.

“Whoa,” Hiccup exclaims as only the tether to the saddle and his artificial foot keeps him seated. He looks back over his shoulder, but the flash of recognition has already settled. He steers Toothless back around and hovers in front of the rather confused dragon.

“Hey, Hookfang,” Hiccup says simply. “Don't worry, something very strange happened but I'm sure that Snotlout is safe.”

The Monstrous Nightmare bellows but doesn't flame up, so that's a good sign. He recognizes Toothless and the two dragons exchange a greeting rumble.

“But oh man,” Hiccup says, dragging a hand down his face, “what am I going to do with you? You'll set all of London on fire if I take you with me.” The town probably won't burn down that easily, but Hookfang will take offense at a car and eat it, or some similar Monstrous Nightmare behavior which Snotlout loves but which is a hassle to deal with. The amount of burn scars on the guy's body grows by the week.

Toothless slides into a glide and Hiccup lets him. Naturally, Hookfang follows his leader. Both dragons are decent at hovering, but neither wants to keep it up for long.

“Can't just dump you at Hagrid, you'll flame up and burn his house down because he tries to feed you an eel,” Hiccup muses out loud. Toothless has already turned north. “You just had to turn up now. Your timing is as bad as Snotlout's,” Hiccup complains. He hopes that Snotlout won't think his dragon has abandoned him. What if more trained dragons show up? … What if more riders get transported from Berk?

All the more reason to head to London and get some answers, but not alongside a Monstrous Nightmare. That dragon is proud and headstrong on their best days, let alone confused and without a proper rider. They'll go back, tell Hagrid a bit about care for dragons who set their skin ablaze and head back out before anyone can catch them.

“C'mon, let's get you back to Hogwarts,” Hiccup says, beckoning for Hookfang to follow them.

* * *

The long, thin neck of the Monstrous Nightmare is one Hagrid can fit his hand around, but all in all the dragon is larger than the huge man. Even so, Hagrid is at ease with the temperamental dragon. “It's the perfect shade of orange,” he comments. “And its entire skin is covered with flammable goo? Or just the back?” It's like he's never heard of small things like 'personal safety' and 'precautionary measures'.

“Mostly the back.”

What kind of dragon fits the man? A large one, that's for sure, but one with the same curiosity and love for creatures. A Thunderdrum perhaps.

“Alright, Hookfang, Toothless and I were just going on a quick trip so you hang on tight. We'll be right b-”

“Master Hiccup,” the headmistress interrupts. She stands tall at the entrance of the pen, her pointy hat adding to her thin stature. Toothless shrinks back, all too aware what that tone brooks for them both. Hiccup himself tries not to flinch but isn't that successful at it.

“May I ask why you tripped the shields on the outer perimeter?” If McGonagall was born on Berk she'd ride a Snow Wraith. “If you'd gone any further we'd be discussing this in the presence of Ministry officials and you'd be charged with breaking the International Statute of Secrecy.”

Toothless slinks to the back of the pen while Hiccup showcases his ignorance of this world.

“We were looking for answers, and we know we'll find them in London. I have to go home before the entire dragon population of Berk shows up. And what exactly are you keeping a secret from the world? This school?”

Even with her shoes sinking into the mud the woman looks regal as she answers. “This school, our magic, the life we live, our buses and shops and every member of this community is a secret, master Hiccup, as are the magical creatures, like your dragon. If the world knew what we could do, they would hunt us down. So I can't appreciate someone flying off, threatening to expose us to the muggles. Did you think we didn't have alarms set up around the skoo? We hat minstry oficieals on the wey to intersept you and phors you to land. Maester Hiccup, we are workin on teking you home.”

By the end, her words become more and more garbled until the syllables the woman utter no longer click into meaning inside his mind. The future language everybody in this school speaks is once again reduced to the language which tickles his brain into understanding a word here and there - the grammatical structure is similar - but ultimately he can't understand enough for it to make sense.

“Stop, stop,” he calls out, raising his hands in the air. Funnily enough this is one of the words which are the same in both languages. “The spell has run out,” he continues, suddenly aware of the changed lilt of his tongue and the rolling 'r' he hasn't used in a while.

McGonagall gets out her stick and with two leaps Toothless is by Hiccup's side. He still doesn't trust the wands and Hiccup doesn't blame him. He's seen a lot of good magic being performed at this school, but he hasn't forgotten the potion that can make him spill his guts, nor the jagged wound on his best friend's wing.

“It's alright, Toothless, she's not going to hurt me. I think.”

The Night Fury stops growling but is alert and ready to intervene. McGonagall calls something to Hagrid before she steps inside his home, beckoning for Hiccup to follow her.

“Toothless, stay,” Hiccup says, lowering his hands with his palms flat to get the dragon to listen to him. Toothless mumbles something but makes his way back to the feeding through in the pen.

The spell McGonagall uses to enable him to understand English is a complicated and lengthy one - hence why only she and professor Hackett can perform it. By now Hiccup knows that most spells are bound to one, two or three words and the correct arm- and wrist movement to get it to activate.

McGonagall pulls up a stool with a wave of her wand and Hiccup sits down on it, his mind working over the interrupted argument with the headmistress. So he's still under surveillance, and there had been a team ready to intercept. It's exactly what he'd have done if someone had landed on Berk and posed a flight-risk.

The wand slides across his head as if she's looking for something, ultimately tapping on the left side of his head while McGonagall utters words without any meaning tied to them. Warmth spread outs inside his head and it's an eerie feeling to have something so capable of killing him so close to his face.

He knows a thing or two about hiding secrets, though. His entire lifestyle is not exactly widely accepted by the other tribes and he dreads the first Viking chief gathering he'll have to attend as the chief of Berk. Most of them don't even know that dragon riders exist although the rumors are starting to pile up. He'll have to gently massage his viewpoint in to get them to not kill him on the spot. So coming clean with an entire magical community… might not be the best idea. Not if the tolerance of the general populace has remained the same throughout history.

McGonagall next tap lands right above his left ear, making his ears glow as if he just stepped inside a warm hut after being outside for hours in the bad part of winter. This in-between part is the most annoying of them all. He can tell the words apart McGonagall is saying, but only in his left ear. His right side is still telling him that she's speaking nonsense until she taps there as well. The words now flow freely but they're still meaningless syllables until she brushes her wand across an area the size of one of those potatoes behind and a little above his ear. She finishes off the spell by targeting various areas on the right side of his head until his entire brain sizzles like it's dunked in hot water.

Now that it's once again safe to speak, Hiccup launches into it.

“That orange dragon belongs to one of my friends, Headmistress. I don't know what he'd do without Hookfang, but he'll tear up the Edge, Dragon Island and Berk looking for him. It's what any of us would do for our dragon.”

He looks back over his shoulder at the stern woman. Her face is neutral but there's the pull of sympathy in her eyes.

“I need to get some answers, or at the very least I need to help look for them. I can't afford to leave my village defenseless once every single dragon gets transported here. We've got enemies that want to kidnap us and force us to give them all of the information on dragons we've got so they can capture and kill them even better. And soon there'll be too many dragons for Hagrid and me to handle.”

He stands up. His height is nothing compared to the tall woman, but it does make him feel a bit better.

“Don't keep me a prisoner here, because we'll break out, and I want to be on friendly terms. Just get me on the team looking for the solution - we're the target of the spell anyway, and we're two days of flying away. That can't be useful. But Toothless is healed and we want to do something!”

McGonagall's eyes flit across his face before finally focusing on his eyes. She'll say 'I'll see what I can do' or 'patience, master Hiccup'. Instead, she nods. Hiccup does his best not to gape.

“I'll contact the lead of the investigation team so you can join, and the head of the dragon sanctuary in England to draw up a plan to transport the dragons of Berk to a safe location until we can move all of you back home.”

“I -uh- thanks,” Hiccup stammers. McGonagall waves the stool back underneath the table before putting her wand away.

“I don't keep prisoners at Hogwarts, master Hiccup. It's high time the investigation gets moving before we're overrun with dragons, putting my students at risk. Allow us a couple of days to get a plan worked out and the proper permits in place for you to fly across Great Britain undetected.”

Abruptly she turns around and exits the hut, leaving Hiccup behind. He wanders out after her, turning to the pen instead of towards the castle. Her pointy hat disappears into the distance. A questioning purr from Toothless brings Hiccup out of his stupor. He never expected her to fold so easily - no, she hadn't folded. She agreed only because it's the right thing to do. He's got a right to assist, even if dragons are supposed to be kept a mystery.

“There's a dragon sanctuary around here, Toothless,” he tells him. A laugh bubbles up. “A sanctuary! A place where all of these dragons can stay without someone bothering them, or killing them and selling their hides in the markets up north.” Toothless grumbles and Hiccup gives him an apologetic pat on the head. “Sorry, too graphic. But they do take care of you guys, even this far in the future.”

Toothless licks the side of his face and Hiccup can't fault him for it. His spirit has never been higher since he landed here on the grounds of Hogwarts. Finally they're going to do something. He's had fun here, teaching the students, playing Quidditch, watching them gawk at him as he did things which had become his new normal in his actual life. But it's time to head on home.

“We're joining the investigation,” he announces. "In just a few more days.”

* * *

It's been a while since he's last seen the castle of Hogwarts, it has to be said. It's still as imposing and important to the wizarding community as ever, although the final battle of Hogwarts has changed its shape. Towers had fallen, walls crumbled and although the repairs had been extensive, towers had been shifted around to cover the gaps - and get some renovation in as well - so the silhouette in the night sky is a bit different than what Charlie remembers.

The breath coming from the Thestral pulling the cart is visible in clouds of smoke and Charlie wraps his traveling cloak a little tighter around himself as the horse-like creature makes its way from the train to the entrance of the castle. Winter has begun to set in and the clouds in the sky carry snow, both delighting and aggravating the students when it'll fall. Charlie has had enough snowball fights to know what fun they are, but the constant cold feet and wet robes makes him glad that he's spent so many years in Romania. The winters there get just as cold, but the hot summers make up for that.

At the double doors of the main entrance the Thestral pulls to a stop and Charlie pats it in thanks before making his way inside.

“Thank you for coming this quickly, Mr. Weasley,” the Charms professor says. She's taller than professor Flitwick but that's not a hard accomplishment. Her status as head of Gryffindor is much harder to achieve although Charlie has to dig a little to find her name. His niece Rose has told him that she has won several bets by surfing up the moving stairs on an enchanted mattress all the way from the marble stairs to the highest tower, a feat which no one had sought behind the large glasses and silver hair.

Mayweather, Charlie finally recalls. “It's no problem, professor Mayweather,” he replies, shaking her outstretched hand. The warmth of the hall washes over him and he loosens his traveling cloak. Her mouth, webbed with early wrinkles befitting a woman her age, tightens a bit.

“I go by Hackett now,” she replies and the tips of Charlie's ears glow red with either embarrassment or the heat of the room getting to him. “Can I get you something to drink or eat before we go meet the dragon rider?”

He ought to drink something, eat something - it's been a sudden journey all the way up to Hogwarts and his stomach is empty. The cart on the train didn't have anything he fancied and he didn't have Muggle money on him when he boarded the first Muggle train on his way to the school.

But then again… master dragon rider. Not just a dragonologist, but someone who has such a bond with a fire-breathing lizard that the dragon actually allows the human to ride him. And the rumors tell him that the guy isn't just a rider, he is a master of the art.

Eventually, hunger wins out and Professor Hackett produces a plate of sandwiches for him and a cup of strong tea inside the Great Hall. It's well after curfew and the only ones roaming the halls are the professors - or the only ones who should be roaming around. There are always bound to be a few students out and about. Charlie himself has done it a few times although generally he'd abided by the rules.

“Did they find out yet what species of dragon it is?” he asks of the professor.

“Master Hiccup calls him a 'Night Fury', so we've been calling him that. But they haven't been able to match it up to any of ours yet.”

That… is an awesome name for a dragon. He drinks down the tea so fast it scalds his tongue but his impatience grows by the minute. That, and it's impolite to keep the dragon rider waiting so long. He's had some delays on the way here… and he doesn't trust his Apparition enough to transport himself across entire countries. It's never been his strong suit.

Professor Hackett suppresses a smile as he chugs the tea and thanks her for the meal.

“Follow me,” she simply says and walks out the door. Charlie hastens to catch up with her but all she does is cross the entrance hall and knock on the door hidden inside a nook. That used to be a broom closet, he remembers, but a voice answers from the inside.

“Come in!” it calls, and Professor Hackett swings the door open.

It's cold inside the room - a fair bit colder than the hall, at least. The room has been enlarged from a broom closet. The jittery light of a fire burns inside the room but the magical torches are snuffed out, making the shadows of the bed, table and chair dance on the opposite wall.

“Master Hiccup, I'd like you to meet Charlie Weasley, dragonologist and head of the Plank Dragon Sanctuary.”

Silhouetted against the light of the fire stands a slight man, clad in a red jumper and dark brown pants. His hands are wet, along with darker spots on his clothes and a few white suds in his dark hair. The sleeves of his jumper are rolled up and Charlie spots some muscles on his wiry frame.

The man is completely at ease even as the wet dragon beside him perks up and twists its ear flaps in Charlie's direction. Before it can rise to its feet the man steps forward and extends his hand.

“Nice to meet you, I'm Hiccup Haddock, and this is Toothless.” He gestures towards the magnificent creature overseeing the scene. Charlie doesn't miss the calculating gaze the man carries even as he makes the friendly introduction. Intelligence burns in the green eyes and his hands are calloused, his face scarred. He's not someone you picture as the archetype 'Viking' but maybe he's the most dangerous one of them all - a schemer with something to protect. The dragon is behind the man now and a ribbed dagger lies on the table, within easy reach of this Hiccup Haddock. It's semi-hidden underneath parchment filled from top to bottom with schematics, notes and drawings. Charlie has been in a war himself and he too always has a weapon on him, albeit his is more of the traditional wand-type.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Charlie replies, keeping his focus on Hiccup even though he wants to examine the dragon from top to toe. Its snout is similar to that of a Chinese Fireball and the paws are rounder than that of the Antipodean Opaleye but first he has to gain the trust of the rider before he can look at the dragon. A thousand questions have popped up in his head on his way to Hogwarts but now that he's confronted with the dragon rider they all seem to have vanished and all that comes out is “is Hogwarts treating you okay?”

Hiccup smiles at Professor Hackett before answering the question. “It's the most luxurious place I've ever been. I'm going to miss the showers when I get back home - I mean, hot water coming straight from the wall! And the food… I'm going to find those 'potatoes' and plant them all over Berk because they're growing on me.”

Right. Viking. Has no clue about anesthesia, pizza, radio or viruses. It must be such a strange world for him even if his English is BBC enough he could narrate a nature documentary.

“I'm glad to hear it.” It's not polite to mention the elephant in the room - or in this case, dragon. So he follows up with “so what do you usually eat back on, Berk, was it?”

But the dragon in the room is tired of being ignored and he pushes his way forward, the big head shoving Hiccup aside. Its tongue hangs out and its nostrils flare wide and Charlie can't blame him for it. Even he smells the lingering phosphor of the Hebridean Black on his robes. The small Night Fury seems to like it because he nudges his rider and jerks his head towards Charlie.

“Oh, alright,” Hiccup concedes. “Mr. Weasley, meet Toothless. Toothless, Mr. Weasley.”

Charlie, please,” he says before hesitating. “How do I-”

“Hold out your hand, Toothless wants to smell it.”

Almost like a dog, albeit a much bigger, hotter and deadlier one. And far more intelligent, if he is to believe the rumor that this dragon plays Quidditch. The dry scales of this Night Fury's nose rubs up against his outstretched palm and his heart sings. Toothless sniffs and huffs and its ear flaps fall down to a neutral position before it rumbles something.

“Toothless, go sit by the fire, we'll get to you in a bit."

Dragons are wild creatures, classified as XXXXX dangerous. Charlie has spent enough time around them to know about the territorial need of pregnant females, about scale rot and he can spot the difference between a warning flame and a hunter's flame. He's subdued a lot of them, to transport them, to take care of them without losing a foot, to clean their teeth and, in some cases, cull the herd when it gets too big. But he's never seen a human talk to a dragon on an equal level and the Night Fury goes and lays down without protest.

Charlie can't help but gape at the man. How.

“I'll leave you to it. Mr. Weasley, we've prepared a bedroom for you on the third floor, the door across from the Arithmancy classroom. I trust you can find it when you're ready to retire,” Hackett says.

“Ah, yes, thank you,” Charlie replies off-handedly. He's already forgotten on which floor it is because the dragon trainer in front of him is so much more important.

“So is it a lost Viking art? What kind of spells do you use? What sort of dragon is Toothless? When-”

Hiccup holds up a hand to stem the flow of questions, thanks Professor Hackett for bringing Charlie over and walks over to the bucket. Charlie catches the rough sponge Hiccup throws him out of sheer Seeker reflexes.

“C'mon, help me clean up Toothless and we'll talk.”


	9. Chapter 9

The sun is an orange disc behind the morning mist and the top of it begins to shine yellow. In thirty more minutes it'll be completely yellow and the hard rime coating the grass, trees and dragon's pen will disappear. But for now it's a completely white canvas. Snow will come this week but right now Hogwarts is white in the mornings and colorful in the afternoon.

Steam rises from the manger as both Hiccup and Charlie empty the buckets of fish in it. Charlie taps the layer of ice on the water trough with his wand and the minuscule dragon called a Terrible Terror chirps at him before it begins to lap at the no longer frozen water. The exercise keeps Charlie warm but even if he stood still he wouldn't notice the cold.

The pen is filled with all kinds of wonderful creatures, ranging from dragons which resemble the ancient Ankylosaurus to a completely black Terrible Terror which is somehow called 'one of Smidvarg's gang'. There are Deadly Nadders and a Monstrous Nightmare and Charlie wonders if Vikings have awe-inspiring modifiers in front of all of the names they give dragons or if it's just coincidence.

"He's called Hookfang," Hiccup says as he leads Charlie across the frozen grass towards the largest dragon of them all. "He belongs to one of my riders and is already trained. The others in here are…" he looks around, hesitates, "sort-of trained. They know not to attack humans but I wouldn't ride one unless it's an emergency. They tend to forget you're on their back."

Hookfang the Monstrous Nightmare. It's like something out of a children's book, designed to frighten but not horrify the kids. Who doesn't like a good scare?

But the comparatively large dragon is something to be afraid of. Its hide can go up in flame in seconds and it doesn't even need the rows of sharp teeth to kill its prey if it can throw a jet of flame twenty-five feet.

"Hello, Hookfang," Charlie says with confidence in his voice. It's one of the primary rules of working with dragons - don't show you're afraid. Hiccup moves around the pen like he belongs there and the Deadly Nadders and Gronckles react positively to that so Charlie tries to do the same. He gets a lot of side-eyes as he walks up to the Monstrous Nightmare until he's right underneath it. It puffs a cloud of smoke at him. "It's nice to meet you. You have the most amazing pair of horns I've ever seen."

The dragon rumbles something at that and lowers its head to sniff at Charlie's hair. Today it's cropped a lot shorter than he usually carries it but that's because he's recently visited his aging mother. Despite the ongoing arthritis in her hands she insists on cutting his hair for him. Charlie stretches out a hand and scratches underneath the chin of the Monstrous Nightmare, hopefully doing it just like Hiccup had described. Judging by the purr the dragon gives off he's doing something right.

"Agh, Toothless!" he hears Hiccup call from the other side of the pen and the midnight streak bounces away, chortling. The Night Fury is without saddle and greets every single dragon inside the pen. Hookfang bumps heads with the small dragon before they both turn their attention back to Charlie.

"Alright if I examine your wing?" Charlie asks. The Night Fury's ear flaps turn in his direction and the Monstrous Nightmare tilts its head but there's not definitive sign of a 'yes' or a 'no' in animal body language.

"Oh come, Hookfang, let him touch your wing. He's a dragonologist, he might get you back to Snotlout slippery quick if you cooperate," Hiccup cajoles from afar.

The Monstrous Nightmare obligingly lowers its wing and Charlie's hands itch with the need to touch the reptile. But he squashes the urge and looks, clasping his hands behind him to avoid any temptation. He twirls his wand between his fingers as he examines. There are a few scars on both the membranes and the phalanges but they are faint and there are no discolorations in the scales, nor any sub-dermal bumps indicating illness. His eyes rove over all of the creature. Its eyes aren't wetter than they ought to be and its still got all of its teeth. The horns are chipped here and there but mostly whole and twisted away from the head. They look sharp and Charlie wonders if they play some sort of role in a mating ritual. The Deadly Nadders come in a variety of colors, maybe these dragons do as well? The dragons he's most familiar with only have slight variations but these Gronckles waddling around the pen come in brown, green, ochre and some muddled combination of yellow and purple. This Monstrous Nightmare shows sign of wear and tear, making it a middle-aged adult, although its lifespan is anyone's guess.

"Your rider is called Snotlout?" Charlie asks and at the mention of the name he's got the undivided attention of the dragon. It snorts and shakes its head. The saddle on the neck is elegant and the leather shines with wear. There are no handlebars like the ones on Toothless' saddle but the horns are in the perfect position to grab and steer. So that's how they do it.

Hookfang lowers its head to the ground and gets up in Charlie's face. The forward-facing eyes narrow into slits and Hiccup calls from somewhere in the pen. He's got the Night Fury's saddle in his hands but the dragon makes it a game of catch, whipping its tail through the air much like a cat. That sort of behavior is so un-dragonlike that Charlie's heart soars. So many new dragons to study, to breed and learn from. Then again, maybe his heart soars with the threat of fire-breathing dragon two feet from his fragile face.

"He didn't take Snotlout, Hookfang. You just got moved here… somehow. We'll get you back to your scaramouch, and he can help."

"Yeah Hookfang, I can help," Charlie repeats in a calm and assured tone even if his heart's beating so much faster now than a few seconds ago. The Monstrous Nightmare rears back and spreads its wings.

"Don't be like that, Hookfang," Hiccup admonishes as he walks up to the dragon. It seems to calm down because he lets Hiccup rub the skin around the horns after the dragon rider puts down Toothless' saddle. A wicked pair of eyes land on Charlie, sparkling with something Charlie isn't sure he's keen to find out. "Have you thought of a plan to disguise the flying dragons yet?" Hiccup asks.

Charlie nods. It's a simple plan, so simple a fifth-year student could perform it in fact. "We'll Kameoflage a giant sheet below you to shield you from casual viewers and put up more sheets if we encounter any planes. It's about a four-hour flight to the sanctuary. Five hours for the little guys." A wizard fresh from Hogwarts would use a far more complicated spell like invisibility, or putting the entire flock to sleep and transporting them through Portkeys. But in his years in the field, Charlie has learned practicality and ease of use.

"We'll take them with us on the bigger dragons," Hiccup replies. "Also, what is Kameoflage and what are planes?"

After a short explanation - which Charlie isn't sure Hiccup believes ('metal tubes with wings. Of course, I could've known') - the glint creeps back into the dragon rider's eyes.

"First I'll need to teach these guys to fly in formation. I don't want any of them flying off. Hookfang, would you be willing to temporarily fly with Charlie here? Cause I'm gonna need a second rider."

Charlie eyes the large dragon and it eyes right back, head tilting slowly to the right. He should probably stick with a smaller dragon if he is to ride one, one of the friendly Gronckles who nuzzle and lick each other all day even if they let out farts strong enough to blow back the hair on Charlie's head. The Monstrous Nightmare takes a few steps closer, tilting its head to the left now. Nothing in the animal's body language gives away what the creature is thinking.

"I'd be honored," Charlie says finally. Hiccup smacks his hand against Hookfang's rump.

"Honored, Hookfang! That's more than you usually get with the Snotman. You can touch him now, Charlie."

He holds out his hand and the Monstrous Nightmare puts its cheek into it, its eyes half-lidded. In contrast to the Night Fury this dragon is damp to the touch and Charlie nearly pulls his hand back. Large reptiles should not be damp. No wonder the saddle is on the neck, if it's anywhere on the body it'll rot off within days.

"Hookfang, up for a ride?" Hiccup asks. He walks up to the saddle and inspects it before beckoning for Charlie to come on over.

"Can I - really?" Charlie stumbles over his words. The grin on the dragon rider's face is unbearably smug but he's genuinely happy as well. A proud mama hen, in a way. Toothless is tired of being ignored and trots up to Hiccup. He narrowly avoids a sloppy wet lick to the face but he's quick to react by putting the saddle on his dragon now that he's finally in range. Toothless lets him and within a minute the straps are all tightened and the two humans resume their conversation.

"Yes, really. I think-"

The Monstrous Nightmare erupts into flame and Charlie's first instinct is to fire off an Aguamenti-spell at it to douse the flames, but Hiccup smacks his wand arm down before he can properly aim. The heat coming off the dragon is more subdued than it should be but it's still hot enough to make the grass turn green around the dragon. A glob of the dampness covering the dragon drops off as Hookfang spreads his wings and it burns its way into the skin of Charlie's uncovered arms. Hiccup's armor makes a lot more sense now.

Hastily Charlie pats it off but the familiar pain of a first-degree burn settles into his skin. It joins various other marks and scars he's collected over the years. He crouches and presses the smarting skin against the rime-covered grass and sighs in relief. Hookfang chortles and stops being on fire.

"Yeah, now you can ride him," Hiccup remarks. "He likes to, ah, brand people. He's burnt Snotlout so many times the guy has a permanent mark on his butt. Don't ask how I know that, I don't want to talk about it." A beat and Hiccup sighs. "This is probably not the best introduction. Hookfang is a nice dragon but he's still got his own will, is what I'm really trying to say instead of telling you about all the times he's lit Snotlout on fire."

"You should stop talking" Charlie says gently and Hiccup wisely shuts up. Even if there's the risk of catching on fire… dragon riding. Come on. There is no pro-con list to make on this decision.

Hookfang lowers its head and Charlie walks up to the saddle. It's easy to mount up even if he has to poke at the stirrups with his wand to get them the right length. The moment the Monstrous Nightmare notices that he's secure the air moves as the wings get into position. Everything around the two of them seems to sharpen, in Charlie's mind. The skin is still damp underneath his thighs, there are nicks in the leather of the saddle. Three scales on the neck of the Monstrous Nightmare are discolored, indicating a past injury. Before Charlie can re-think this momentous stupid decision they're off and Charlie holds on to the horns as the ground disappears from underneath. It's like the first time he ever got on a proper broom, not the toy ones which broke after a week or two of intense playing. But this time the dragon's head bops up and down and its muscles move underneath the orange scales. It's so much more visceral, this type of flying.

He can't help but let out a whoop and something underneath him chuckles. He dares to lean sideways a bit and Hookfang slides into a gentle spiral. Hiccup and Toothless have joined them in the air and it was Toothless who'd laughed at him.

"Try to steer him to the left!" Hiccup calls before doing so himself.

Conscious of the hard chitin chafing his hands he grabs hold of the horns and tugs them to the left. The continuous rush of wings behind him cease and Hookfang slowly banks left. He seems to enjoy this as well, especially as Charlie can't help but gasp in awe as Hookfang decides he wants to dive down.

The dragon is a lumbering beast compared to the way the Night Fury dances around them but even so he's fast, maybe as fast as a Nimbus 2000. He tries to pull on the horns and the dragon hovers in mid-air, wings flapping like mad to keep them in position. This is one well-trained dragon and Charlie can't wait to pick Hiccup's brain how in the hell he managed to not only find entirely new species but befriend them before subsequently riding them.

"Get up there, Hookfang!" Charlie commands, tugging the head towards the sky and Hookfang obliges. They break through thin layer of clouds before leveling out in the weak sunshine. His face is wet and the wind whips at him, cooling him gradually down, the horns chafe his hands but he's happier than he's been in a long time.

Hookfang roars and Charlie tries to copy him, a trick he uses on agitated Romanian Longhorns to calm them down. It appears to amuse the Monstrous Nightmare because he produces some more roars which Charlie copies with varying success.

"You've got the dragon call down already!" Hiccup yells from afar. The duo also breaks through the cloud cover and claw their way through the air to fly side by side.

"Hey, Hookfang, flame up a little, his lips are turning blue," the dragon rider requests. The thick, leather armor over a woolen sweater is making a hell of a lot more sense up in the air. And if flying a normal Monstrous Nightmare is a dream come true, the burst of warmth at his back is like discovering he's a proper wizard all over again. The dragon controls the flames, because they stop just behind the saddle but continue on its face. A buffer of heat builds up as the dragon slows down and cramps which hadn't even been apparent to Charlie ease up.

"You've figured out the horns, now you just need to tell him when to flame. Hookfang is pretty good at figuring that out himself but sometimes you gotta tell him. You gotta quickly push up against the horns when you're riding him but it's usually enough to point and go 'maim that' when you're on the ground."

Charlie had been at the wrong end of the flaming breath of dragons countless times. He's not good at wordless magic but the spells he uses most often rise to the surface of his subconscious as he does as Hiccup told him to. The Monstrous Nightmare spews bright fire over thirty feet and he has to call a halt to the jerk of his wand arm to cast a protego and Aguamenti spell in order to protect himself from harm. The flames peter out and Hiccup bends forward over his saddle.

"Wanna dive?" he asks and the next second they're gone, plummeting through the clouds like a brick. The jet-like wings of the Night Fury are clasped against its body and Charlie realizes a second too late that while he's steered Hookfang so far, it's still an animal with a mind of its own. He barely has time to tighten his grip on the horns and press his thighs into the saddle before the Monstrous Nightmare also clips its wings and down they go.

It's like the Wronski Feint but this time there's no Snitch at the bottom, only the lake and certain death if the dragon gets it wrong. Hookfang calls and the Night Fury answers. The Monstrous Nightmare's greater mass makes him surpass the smaller dragon and Charlie can't breathe. The cold wind cuts into his flesh and there's nothing to do but hold on.

With a jerk the wings unfold and Charlie's torso slams into the saddle as inertia is a cruel mistress. The smack forces the air out of his lungs and oh god he smashed his balls into the unforgiving saddle as well. Charlie wheezes as tears well up.

"A bit too much, Hookfang," Hiccup chastises from somewhere above. "Follow me."

Hookfang dutifully follows the Night Fury and they set down on the white grass on the north side of the dragon pen, where Charlie slides off the saddle with great care. He's gonna have some spectacular bruises later and next time he's gonna wear so much more protection - from the cold, from getting his balls squished, from the heat of a flaming dragon.

"Thank you, Hookfang, that was amazing," Charlie says. He pats the large dragon on the neck and it rumbles.

"Feed him some fish," Hiccup suggests and Charlie does just that. The look of utter gratitude is something he won't soon forget - this whole ride is something he's not going to forget any time soon.

XXX

Hogwarts is such a strange place when compared to the world Hiccup is familiar with. And he's already seen a lot, from ships stranded high in trees, islands covered in Whispering Death holes and caves smeared with mystical paintings, the origins of which are still unknown to him. If only he could read a book in the library about it…

It's also filthy rich. The students eat off of golden plates, the hallways are covered in marble so shiny he sees his own reflection in it. The suits of armor are made from the finest metal, even if Hiccup is yet to spot anything made with Gronckle iron. Maybe it's not as durable as other metals, maybe it never got much sway outside of the archipelago. The meals which are served three times a day, every day are filled with fine meats and spices he's barely heard of, let alone tasted. Sometimes he longs for a decent yak jerky or the smell of slightly stale but still good bread. The clothes these kids wear have a thread count the finest weaver in all of Berk can't approach. And the thing is, these kids seem to think it's all so normal. Parchment of high quality is wasted on doodles and drafts, they leave half-eaten veal behind on their plates, they tear through candy with no regard how much work goes into growing sugar beets. Nobody in this castle seems to make things. They can conjure up items for their own use, but Hiccup has yet to find a woodworker or blacksmith, a baker or any of the multitude of jobs needed to sustain a society. Yet there's always fresh bread on the table and their wands are intricately carved. Not everything can be explained away by magic, he reasons. Food, he's learned, is exempt from magic. So in order to feed a school of this size there need to be at least a dozen fully-loaded carts traveling in and out of the castle every single day to get the basic ingredients into the kitchen. Yet there are no carts, no visitors, no indication how the resources get here. When he asks the students, they don't really care how the food gets into Hogwarts as long as there's three meals a day. Maybe this is what the future is like - much more focus on the academics, little on how to get there. He's not entirely convinced that this is a good thing.

Despite his sudden illiteracy there are still things to be learned in this magical world, despite its entitlement. Like a map of the entire world. Madam Pince had not been happy with him as he asked her about the map of the surrounding area, because Hogwarts is something called Unplottable. Only with advanced magic could someone make a map of the castle and Hiccup had tried it out himself one evening. With all the moving staircases and shifting doors it's hard to know where everything is in the first place and truth be told, Hiccup doesn't spend a lot of time indoors. He has an entire flock of dragons to look after by now and the castle is mostly classrooms anyway.

Hiccup tries to draw the route from the front door to the library but finds it hard to sketch the lines. He keeps erasing the ones he's drawn and argues with himself for over fifteen minutes about the placement of a painting of a wizard in drab purple robes who keeps shouting at him about his armor whenever he passes before he gives up and leans back into the chair.

"I bet with your echo-location you can find everything, huh, Toothless," Hiccup says. The Night Fury twitches in his sleep as an answer and a tiny line of drool drips down from the forked tongue peeking out from his mouth.

So that's what Unplottable means.

But just because Hogwarts and its grounds are invisible on normal maps doesn't mean that the whole world is. And there's a whole lot of world to go around. If his calculations are correct, he'd traversed a day of sailing's worth when he'd made a break for it and ran across Hookfang. This is but a fingertip's width in comparison to the entire world. There are landmasses he's never seen nor heard anyone speak of - not even Trader Johann, and that guy was born on a boat and will die on one too.

But there are also continents he has heard of, and that baffles the student he's met as he studies at one of the tables at the library.

"You know where Egypt is?" a second-year Slytherin whispers and Hiccup points at the appropriate place on the map - left of Jorsalir, underneath Grikkland. Not that hard to place Alexandria either.

"How about America?" That one proves to be too great to translate for the poor, overworked spell until the student - his name begins with an 'A', he's introduced himself but Hiccup hadn't been paying attention - points out Skraelingsland. The eerie sensation of the spell asserting itself overcomes him and the name of the continent gets wiped away and replaced by the much more meaningless 'America'.

Langbardaland gets replaced by Italy and Gardariki becomes Russia. Thankfully Groenland stays green, Sikiley only shifts in consonants to become Sicily and Afrikka doesn't change at all.

"Australia?" the student wagers but Hiccup is at a loss for that one. "Don't go there, all the wildlife over there will try their hardest to kill you. They had an actual war with birds. And the birds won."

They both duck down as Madam Pince makes her rounds and Hiccup tries to make sense of the letters on the map but they still won't translate inside his head. Australia is a dry place according to the colors of the map the student had explained to him. When she's once again beyond earshot - and that's a long way away, her hearing has to be magically amplified - the student bends back over the map together with Hiccup.

"I thought Vikings were only familiar with, y'know, Norway and Iceland," the student remarks. Hiccup has him point out those two places on the map and two more nouns get replaced. Who'd name their country 'land of ice' when there are volcanoes all over the island? Well, he can see Vikings do that to throw off anyone interested in fertile lands.

"I'm chief of Berk - I've got to know about trade routes," Hiccup explains. "Don't wanna trade the newborn yaks for medicine from Bolgaraland when it turns out it's just peatfrom Frisland." At the blank look he clarifies. "I want an equal trade."

The student nods understandingly and circles the area around Norway. "Did you manage to find Berk on the map yet?" he asks.

"Sort of," Hiccup says with a sigh. He pulls a more detailed map of the area closer and puts it on top of the map of the world. It isn't like he'll ever be able to visit Australia, anyway. Even if he is curious about the type of birds that these wizards wage war with. Ninety feet tall, probably, and able to pluck a Night Fury out of the sky and swallow it whole.

"I've tried to compare my maps with this one but I can't find a single island on here. Not even the biggest ones." Hiccup pulls out an older but even more detailed map. "My entire archipelago is not on here. But it should be right here, because I do recognize that island." There's a note of worry buried underneath the frustration. What has happened to Berk in the meantime? Will that happen in his lifetime? In Gustav's lifetime? How long can he preserve the lifestyle of his tribe until the world forgets that dragons can be tamed and they will be hunted once again? The student right next to him has begun to see, to learn, but there's a thousand-year gap between them. And that's a long time to hunt dragons.

"Maybe a Screaming Death got at them, along with a bunch of Whispering Deaths," Hiccup theorizes. The student - Albus, that's his name! - Albus, the curious one, his brow furrows at that name.

"That sounds as promising as an Unforgivable Curse."

"Bad-tempered island eaters with short memories and lots of grudges," Hiccup sums up. "Loads of fun to catch and relocate."

The map gets pulled out from underneath his fingers and the thin-lipped face of Madam Pince bows over him. "Get out of my library!" she orders. "If you want to talk so bad, then do so in the corridors!" She carefully closes the books containing all that wisdom and Hiccup barely has time to pull his notes from the pages before she removes them from the table.

Albus scrambles out of his chair and tiptoes to the exit, Hiccup in tow. His metal leg makes so much more noise on the floor than the soft-soled shoes the student wears and Madam Pince throws him such a disgusting look that Hiccup hops the last few feet on one leg. The lady reminds him a lot of Gothi and the pang of homesickness hits him hard. He can't even find Berk on a map made by wizards, wizards who transport themselves across vast distances with nothing but their will, an old object or some sort of powder. Maybe all of his efforts are in vain, maybe he'll never get back and Berk crumbles without him- Hiccup shakes himself. If for some reason Hiccup never makes it back, Astrid takes over. She'd grieve him but move on, and he loves her all the more for that.

A good round of flying is in order, before he starts seeing her in the ash-blonde hair of the passing gaggle of Ravenclaws.

"Same time tomorrow?" Albus asks, and Hiccup agrees. The Slytherin has been helpful figuring out the specifics of these strange maps, with color-coordinated countries and things called 'satellite pictures'. Madam Pince will have forgiven them tomorrow.

XXX

R-rrrip. Rrrrrip. Snort. Rrrrrrrrrip.

These are the sounds which greet Hiccup as he enters the pen bright and early. The cold of winter begins to set in but as long as he keeps moving he'll be alright. The temperature is approaching regular winter on Berk, not yet mid-mid-winter, when hair freezes within seconds and there is no real way to feel warm for days upon end. The dragons aren't out of their nests yet but there is one, persistent ripping sound quietly drifting out from a nest.

"Oh, that is not a good sign." Hiccup sighs and Toothless croons behind him, mouth still working on a piece of cod he nicked from the manger.

"What did you steal from the castle this t-t" Hiccup begins but stutters to a halt at the sight of Firglide wearing the most lumpy and yellow sweater he's ever seen in his life - and he's seen Gobber's knitting skills. There are holes cut out for the dragon's wings and how someone managed to put it on the dragon is a secret Hiccup is determined never to find out.

Firglide clicks her beak at him as a greeting but cheerfully keeps on pulling the sweater apart, string by string. Torn frays swing softly in the breeze as she uses both the spikes on her tail and her beak to continue her endeavor.

"Who, what - I'd suspect the twins but they're a thousand years away from me." Hiccup muses out loud. "Remind me never to tell them about magic, Toothless."

His Night Fury gazes at Firglide before dropping his ear flaps and widening his eyes. "Oh, now you want one as well?" Hiccup asks and throws up his hands. "Firglide is already ruining hers and you'll ruin it within a day. Looks like she's the only one..."

Hiccup has to swallow those words as a Gronckle ambles towards the manger in the distance. Its yellow-purplish hide hides underneath a neon green sweater with dark green stripes. A Terrible Terror streaks through the sky and doesn't seem to bothered by the smoldering holes in his own, black-and-white piece of clothing.

More and more dragons appear as the smell of fish permeates the air and every single one of them wears a sweater, all of them chosen deliberately to clash with their own hides in the worst way possible. Toothless whimpers at the sight and Hiccup pinches the bridge of his nose.

"The twins are back home, Loki is back home, I think, there is no chance that they have done this, they haven't suddenly developed the ability to time-travel but why are you all wearing clothes!" The last part comes out in a shout.

"Do ya like them?" the deep voice of Hagrid sounds from behind rider and dragon.

"They're dragons!" Hiccup explodes. "They can survive being frozen in glaciers, they fly through snow storms and live through mid-mid-winter when even tears freeze! They do not need arctics!"

The large man looks taken aback at all the shouting. "I just thought they'd be cold, that's all," he mutters. "Wanted to do something nice for them."

"It is, it is nice," Hiccup says, more to calm himself down than to agree with the man.

"I even gave them all at once so they wouldn't get jealous," Hagrid says and beams at Hiccup. There's another whimper somewhere around the large man's thigh. Hiccup badly wants to pinch the bridge of his nose again but he rolls his shoulders and mentally rolls with the situation.

"Did you get one for Toothless as well?" he asks in a flat voice. The Night Fury sits down on his haunches and paws at the ground, looking longingly up at Hagrid.

"Course I did! I wouldn't forget ya, little tyke!" Hagrid boomed. He reaches into one of the many pockets of his moleskin jacket and fishes out a tangle of fuchsia. "Now, hold still," he says and Toothless is ever so helpful, stepping into the leg holes. He patiently waits for the giant man to run his pink umbrella over his back after he's wrapped the knitted piece around his wings and the strings connect themselves string by string.

After he's done Toothless crows and jumps up to lick the man in the face before striking a pose in front of Hiccup.

"Looking very… colorful, Toothless," Hiccup supplies after some hesitation and his dragon bounds off towards his comrades to show off his very own sweater. "They're used to the cold, though," Hiccup begins but Hagrid nearly bowls him over as he hurries over to Firglide.

"Ach, girl, let me repair that for ye," he says, getting out his umbrella and tapping the frays. It instantly repairs itself and Hiccup sees this keeping up for a long time.

XXX

The human children shower her with praise every time they show up in their pack, waiting for the large man to talk at them until the deep, metal sound rings across the grounds. The children have taken to a strange ritual when greeting her - first they bow, wait for her to bow back and only then do they reach out to touch her. The first few times the Night Fury's rider had tried to correct them but then he lets them be. It's as good an acknowledgment as putting the trust in an extended hand, waiting for the dragon to bridge the final distance.

One girl in particular seeks out her companionship during the lectures and heaps praise unto her for her deadly spikes, her large wingspan and her sharp beak. The girl calls her consistently by a collection of syllables which isn't her name but it's the one she's been given here, so she begins to respond to it. 'Firglide' is a meaningless string but it's turning into her moniker. She likes the slide of the last syllable, soaring like she does, above the forest.

Ever since she fell out of the sky and into this one she hasn't gone hungry for a second. The large man always feeds them enough fish. She doesn't recognize all of them but they taste alright. The Night Fury's rider also keeps her occupied. He takes care of the itchy spot on her left wing by smearing something on it, instructing her to not pick at it or lick it off. It's a tough assignment but she manages, because he's done this before and she knows that if she picks at it he'll keep her isolated in a stable with her head inside a cone until the itchy spot heals. The Night Fury himself showcases a new set of scars of his own but he's no longer bound to the ground. Around that time the girl who's taken an interest in her starts appearing outside of the lecture times.

"Hey Firglide professorHackettwas so meantometoday. Shegaveme lines... for-talking-! Iwasn'teventalking, Hank was!" the girl speaks in rapid tones before sitting down next to Firglide, letting the bookbag slide from her shoulder onto the ground with a heavy thump. The girl pushes the windswept red hair from her eyes and leans against the dragon's warm flank. The winter chill is picking up outside and the red-and-yellow scarf doesn't look thick enough to block out the wind entirely. "Ifshecan't hearthe differencebetween my voice and his voicesheshould visita mediwitch!"

Firglide lets the girl rant a little more before nudging her with her beak, rustling her spikes. They're inside the small hut, which is turning more and more into a proper stable with each passing day. They not only have a roof, it also has sides and a bed of hay, along with a large bucket to drink from. The main manger is still outside but Firglide has claimed this space as her own, embedding a few spikes into the wood to drive her point home.

The first time the girl showed up on her own at the edge of the pen, Night Fury's rider looked as pleased as a Gronckle discovering a quarry. He told her about how to properly feed a 'Deadly Nadder', the words most often used in conjunction with her name so he's either referring to her species or to her colors. He taught her how to rub down her scales and get the gunk out from the fold of skin covering the base of her spikes. The tiny set of hands on her spikes are a refreshing change from his calloused ones or the large, clumsy ones of the big man. At first her hands are unsteady but her tiny fingers get into crevices neither of the males can reach.

Firglide likes her after that.

The human adults lecturing inside the building are not as pleased as the large man or Night Fury's rider with the girl's antics. One memorable night, the third one where the girl shows up outside of any lectures and away from her pack, a female adult pulls her away from the pen when she's about to step inside. They have a heated argument and Night Fury's rider intervenes.

"She's not in danger!" he says with conviction, and the grey-haired adult snaps back, rapid-fire words which Firglide doesn't catch.

"I've been keeping an eye on her and I think Firglide is bonding with her. Miss Weasley is as safe as she is during any Care of Magical Creatures class. As long as she keeps listening and doesn't do anything reckless, she's fine," he insists. The grey-haired lady presses her lips together and talks back, but Night Fury's rider keeps throwing soothing words at her, waylays her every argument while the red-haired child watches. Finally they let the kid climb over the fence and she speedwalks towards Firglide, who greets her with a trill, rattling the spikes on her back.

Firglide nudges the girl a second time because there's a fishy smell coming from her bag and the Deadly Nadder wants it.

"Maybe Master Haddock willletmeflyyouoneday," the girl says, heaves a sigh and pulls the fresh piece of fish from her bag. It's wrapped in paper but the smell is unmistakeable - herring. "Igotit fromthekitchen," the girl says as she holds it out for Firglide to snap up and gobble down. No, that isn't fair. She horks it back up, letting the saliva-laden fish flop down onto the floor. "What'swrongwithit?" the girl asks in alarm. Firglide pushes the fish towards her. She's got a small manger of her own, which overflows with the freshest of fishes, it's not fair to take this meal from the child. She needs the food to grow into an adult human. "Youwantmeto-eat-it?" Firglide continues pushing the fish towards the girl, chirping her affirmation.

"That's a good thing, Rose," Night Fury's rider interjects. "It's grotty but she'll adore you if you can keep it down."

Firglide snaps her beak at the human. Her rejected fish is not automatically gross! She's doing the kid a kindness, because the child helped her groom and made her scales shine like never before. Hesitantly the girl reaches out and takes the fish into her hands. "Won'titmakemesick?" she asks, looking from the dead-eyed stare of the fish up to the lively human gaze.

"Small chance," the man replies, squeezing his index finger and thumb together. He has a kind smile on his face and the girl capitalizes on it. Her next words come out decisively and slow as she curls her fingers into the dead flesh of the fish. She seems unaware of the drool dripping down on her black cloak.

"If I do this, will you teach me to fly on Firglide?"

The Night Fury's rider cycles through a range of emotions, but he settles for agreement. "Only if your uncle is okay with it!" he adds quickly. The girl bites down on the fish as if she's sealing a deal, which in a way,she is. The look of revulsion on her face is brief but evident. Firglide is torn between amusement and indignation as the girl forces the slimy flesh down her throat. Firglide rockets through to approval when, at the man's prompting the girl offers the rest of the fish to the Deadly Nadder. Fine, if the girl wants to stay small her entire life, the Nadder is all too glad to take her food from her. Where the child's fingers touched the fish it is warm. Those same fingers search out Firglide's cheek and she trills, accepting the child as an Important not-Dragon.

"So, are there any more Weasleys we can convert at Hogwarts?" the Night Fury's rider asks. The girl shakes her head and the man gives her a quick explanation how to properly pet a Nadder. While Firglide endures the heavenly scritches the girl talks in the rapid tone the Nadder can't make heads or tails of.

"No butIdohavesomefriends who'd love tolearnto ridedragons," she says.

"We're gonna have to get you a saddle," the man remarks and the girl beams. Firglide is loving Hogwarts more and more - first the friendly large man who keeps petting and calling her pretty, then the overabundance of fresh fish, her own stable, and now she's got her very own rider. She should probably learn her name.

XXX

A/N: The spaces left out between certain dialogues are on purpose. Anywhere else is a mistake and I'm still ESL so if you find any words/grammar/phrasing which tickles your inner linguist, please let me know.

Glossary

Grotty - gross, repulsive

Arctics - winter clothes

Scaramouch - a clown character from commedia dell'arte who is both boastful and a coward

Frisland – Frisia, province in the Netherlands

Bolgaraland - Bulgaria


	10. Chapter 10

Hookfang isn't an easy dragon to love. He has a mind of his own about certain things and either licks you or flames you. The Night Fury is devoted to Hiccup, Firglide follows Rose around whenever she can but Hookfang ignores Charlie for hours on end. But when the dragon decides he needs attention, he always knows where Charlie is. The sight of a dragon hovering outside of the bathroom window on the sixth floor is one Charlie was going to treasure for a while, even if the students scatter when Hookfang roars. “I can teach you the basics in five days,” Hiccup had said, and this is proving to be true. The guy clearly has practice being a teacher because he slides into The Voice so easily - the one professors use when they have a lot of information to impart and not a lot of time to do it. It's like revisions before OWLs or NEWTs but Charlie hadn't been a Prefect for nothing. And when he is severely interested in the material, it becomes even easier. Hookfang, on the other hand, doesn't agree with that timeline. He has accepted Charlie as his temporary rider, or so Hiccup says, because Charlie can't tell the difference between a 'I'm just teasing you' fireball and a 'I've had enough of you' fireball yet. Since they're both fireballs aimed at his face, he has the same general reaction of duck and cover. It has halted training sessions when the Monstrous Nightmare decides that that's enough riding for the day and flies off, only to be corralled back by Hiccup and Toothless. Some plying with fish later and Charlie is back on the dragon, a bit singed but willing to learn from Master Hiccup, as the students call Hiccup by now. At the end of the five days, though, he's confident enough on the back of the dragon that he dares make the journey.

XXX  
  
Once again the Night Fury endures a rough petting as the large man says his goodbyes with tears brimming in his eyes. It's the fourth time Toothless stands up on his hind legs and licks Hagrid, his tongue coming back saltier and saltier every time as Hagrid makes his rounds, saying goodbye to every dragon in the pen. They're all gathered in a loose triangle formation, Hookfang at the front and Toothless coming up last.  
  
Five wizards are gathered around them, all of them on broomsticks, all of them smelling like the room where he and Hiccup first landed.  
  
Hiccup does his best to console the sobbing man but he isn't having much luck - his rider never has been good with consoling people. When Hagrid gears up for a fifth round, his handkerchief now thoroughly soaked, Toothless roars impatiently. Daylight is a-wasting and the Terrible Terrors chitter, getting ready for some infighting.  
  
“We'll come back to visit,” Hiccup assures Hagrid before giving him a final pat on the arm and walking away under the watchful gaze of the five wizards in grey traveling cloaks. They clutch their sticks and wince when Hagrid blows his nose with the volume of a Thunderdrum. Rose Weasley pats him on the arm with tears on her own brimming in her eyes as she watches Firglide twitch and twitter, snapping her beak at the unfairness of it all. But it was either all or nothing - all the dragons have to go to the sanctuary to make sure that the spell - the curse? - which makes new dragons appear like clockwork stays centered. Scattered dragons appearing all over the continent will ensure that the secret society will be found out and it could spark a new human-dragon war. Toothless knows all that, but it still hurts to see the budding bond between dragon and rider get stretched thin so early.  
  
“Everybody ready?” Hiccup asks in a loud voice as he finally, blissfully gets into the saddle. Toothless wiggles excitedly but waits for his rider to give the signal to get up into the air. The wizards, Charlie at the front, sound of one by one and Hookfang spreads his wings. The assorted dragons watch as the Monstrous Nightmare lifts off the ground before they follow, keeping the loose triangle formation.  
  
The wizards go up with them, one of them conjuring up a very large, thin sheet of cloth underneath the formation. He performs a complicated wave of his stick and the cloth moves with the group, shielding them from curious eyes down below. The group quickly gains some altitude and some of the Terrors struggle with the speed until they hit a slipstream and steady. All Toothless has to do is spread his wide wings out and chase any stragglers back into formation.  
  
It feels good to be on the move, to leave the castle behind. The terrain slipping by underneath them is almost as wild as the islands of the archipelago - almost being the key word. Even against the glitter of the sunshine on the snow of the mountaintops Toothless sees the roads, the unnatural square shapes of houses and the long lines cutting through solid rock, things which don't belong in the natural landscape. With this move, they'll be one step closer back to home.  
  
XXX  
  
The sanctuary is a vast expanse of familiar terrain. There are no roads, no houses, no towers belching smoke. It's as close to home as Hiccup has found so far and for a moment he imagines Astrid on Stormfly there by the pile of rocks, waiting for him. Fishlegs would want to start a tiny rock garden and the twins would run off and build the wildest thing they can think of. And all of them are right around the corner, if they only round it and-  
  
“Going down!” Charlie yells and dives, Hookfang uttering a groan of relief.  
  
The journey hasn't been one of the hardest but the Terrible Terrors are exhausted. All of the wizards accompanying them now carry at least one Terror on their broomsticks and Hiccup has one laying across his saddle as well. One curious wizard pets the small reptile during the journey and it purrs. The grey-cloaked human smiles and gently steers her broom down now that they're here.  
  
Toothless lands light on his feet as the last one of the troupe while the wizards circle overhead. Beams of light erupt from their wands and dissipate in the air, making it shimmer for a few seconds before normality takes over.  
  
The dragons shake off the remaining Terrible Terrors before flopping to the ground themselves, some of them sniffing around before spouting fire and claiming the little piece of grass as their own.  
  
“We're gonna need some water,” Hiccup mentions to the wizards. “And fish, if you've got any.”  
  
“Give us a minute to put the protective spells back up," one of the cloaked wizard replies, his voice hoarse. His fingers are red from the cold and he's having trouble gripping his wand. Hiccup sympathizes with that - but then he got some proper gear and the trouble with numb fingers became a problem of the past. Except the one time he'd gotten frozen to the saddle, but after laughing for two solid minutes Tuffnut had helped him out.  
  
Toothless groans and Hiccup starts taking the saddlebags off, leaving only the bare minimum of saddle and fin. He gets an appreciative lick to the face for his troubles and wipes it off with nary a thought.  
  
“That dragon really likes you, huh,” the cloaked wizard observes. Hiccup looks up from shaking out a few of the saddlebags so his sleeping bag can breathe and won't rot from being cooped up in a moist saddlebag for long hours.  
  
“He's my best friend,” Hiccup replies earnestly.  
  
“It seems more like a dog than a dragon,” another wizard pipes up. He's conjuring up a trough while a third wizard fills it with water. They have to jump out of the way as the dragons smell the liquid and hurry over, dunking their heads in.  
  
“Sometimes he acts like a cat,” Hiccup says, watching as the Night Fury wriggles his way in between the dragons, snapping at a cheeky Nadder. “He chases spots of light and you can always tell what he's going to do by the size of his pupils. When they get big and playful, that's when you get pounced on.”  
  
“Are all Night Furies like that?” the first wizard asks. He conjures up another trough and the deluge of dragons spreads out a bit. The others keep refilling the first trough and some dragons begin to wander off, returning to the spot they've claimed for the night.  
  
Hiccup stands up and looks around for some logs to start a campfire with. “I don't know. As far as we've been able to find out, Toothless might be the last of his kind.”  
  
“Oh.” There's genuine disappointment in that syllable.  
  
“I've never seen any of these dragons before. I mean, I'm no expert, but dragons are hard to miss. But these, they're all so… small, compared to our dragons. And much friendlier.” The second wizard is done refilling the trough, but there's no fish forthcoming. Looks like they'll have to scour the nearest body of water for fish the coming morning, but one night of no dinner won't harm these dragons in the least. In the wild they sometimes have to survive on a single fish for three or four days. They're reptiles though, so much better at regulating their digestive system than humans can. To starve a dragon, you need patience.  
  
“I wouldn't mind one as a pet if they're all as friendly as, what'd you say its name was? Toothless?”  
  
“They're not pets,” Hiccup says sharply. “They're familiars.”  
  
Hiccup has had instances before where there's a word in the English language which doesn't translate back to Norse, and 'familiar' is one of those. But the term feels right, it fits his dragon. Toothless is a familiar, he knows him through and through and they won't leave each other’s side unless forced to.  
  
“Yeah, I get what you mean,” the first wizard says. “Well, if I ever do come across a Night Fury, I'll try to get to know it.”  
  
The world around them begins to take on the orange hue of the imminent sunset and Hiccup begins gathering logs. With some wrist movements and a muttered spell the small pile of logs grows in size until they've got enough to get through four nights.  
  
“Thanks, lads,” Charlie says, clapping two of them on the back. “We'll take it from here. The dragons are all settled and the resident dragons won't easily get through the shield you've put up.”  
  
“Glad to be of service, and it was nice to meet you, Hiccup.”  
  
“Likewise,” Hiccup replies and waves them off. Sleep tugs at his eyelids but there is still work to be done. He turns to Charlie. “What'd you say we try to catch some fish before we head to bed? I think those Terrible Terrors will appreciate that in the morning.”  
  
Charlie stifles a yawn but grips his wand a little tighter. “Good idea.” Toothless copies the yawn and snaps his teeth into place, making Charlie frown. “Why'd you name him Toothless, actually?” he asks.  
  
“Because first time I met him I thought he didn't have teeth.”  
  
“But he does.”  
  
“What, didn't you do any stupid things in your youth?”  
  
Charlie grins and begins to walk towards the river they'd spotted from the air and Hiccup falls into step besides him. “Of course I did, but none of them involved riding dragons.”  
  
Toothless trudges off after them, his tail leaving long s-shapes in the dirt.  
  
“I'll bet Toothless' saddle on it that you thought about riding one at least once,” Hiccup challenges. Charlie grins a guilty grin and leads the way towards the river. It's a solid ten minute walk at a brisk pace and the light begins to wane around them.  
  
They spend another ten minutes at the riverbank. Toothless splashes around a bit but his play is only half-hearted, tired as the poor dragon is. He focuses on catching some fish and nabs a few tiny ones, which Charlie somehow turns into bigger fish - big enough to sate Toothless' hunger. With some help from the Night Fury Charlie finds a few fish of his own, making them jump into the air and land on the bank, where he gives them a quick and clean death.  
  
Hiccup wanders off down the bank, looking for some stones to put around the campfire to make sure the fire stays within bounds. He's looking so intently at the ground that he doesn't register the large shape blocking the last rays of sunlight until he's at the edge of the shadow.  
  
“Hold on, I'll scare him off!” Charlie calls, but Hiccup tunes him out. The dragon in front of him is tall - about the size of a Typhoomerang but much sturdier. It doesn't immediately flame, even though the air around its belly throws off waves of heat in the evening cold.  
  
In the failing light it's clear its scales are green and smooth.  
  
“Stand back, Hiccup!” Charlie yells, but Hiccup throws back “Toothless...” over his shoulder and his dragon, bless him, whips his tail against the wizard's hand and makes him let go of the wand. The Night Fury takes a few leaps forward and lands to the right and behind Hiccup, ready to interfere but otherwise not posturing.  
  
“Hiccup, these are not like your dragons! He broke through the shield!” Charlie tries one last time, but he's wrong. Hiccup has seen enough dragons to know which ones can be trained and which ones are too aggressive to ever become part of his little troupe. Whispering Deaths are too unpredictable, Changewings too territorial and Smothering Smokebreaths only care about gathering shiny things. But this dragon, tall and thick and capable of reigning over a territory three times the size of Berk, makes no aggressive moves.  
  
It brings it head down low and Hiccup notices the long yellow horns curving behind the head. Its mouth can swallow a whole sheep and its belly is a lighter green all the way up to its smooth tail. It doesn't have any tail fins but it does have spinal ridges across its back. His inner Fishlegs places it in the Stoker class because the hot air whooshes across his face as the dragon huffs once. But the shadow in the corner of his eye, aka Toothless, doesn't react, so neither does Hiccup. He hears Charlie gasp behind him.  
  
“Hi there,” Hiccup says. “Came to see what we're doing, huh? Don't worry, we won't be here long, you can have your territory back as soon as the Ministry finds out what's keeping us here. But I'd like to get to know you, okay?”  
  
He puts up his hand and the green dragon sniffs it, its eyes flicking back and forth between Toothless and Hiccup. The Night Fury rumbles a friendly tone.  
  
The dragonologist doesn't interfere when the green dragon rears back and flaps his wings once. The gale of air is nothing compared to the shriek it lets out before it lands back on all fours, making the ground shake a little.  
  
“Alright, we'll save the proper greeting for next time. Thanks for sharing the space, um, green one. I'll keep my dragons on this side of the sanctuary, okay?”  
  
It really is a Stoker class - the dragon spits fire in a narrow jet at the ground a few feet away from Hiccup. He shields his face against the sudden heat and light and lets the rest of his armor take the brunt. It's not an attack, however. Toothless utters an annoyed rumble and moves a little closer, but Hiccup follows the line with his finger.  
  
“Got it, we won't cross this line.”  
  
The dragon huffs before it turns back around and takes off into the sunset. It disappears behind the tree line and Charlie rushes up to Hiccup.  
  
“That was - I've never seen - how did you-” The words tumble over each other as the man shakes Hiccup before he lets go and takes a step back. “You're not a Muggle, are you?” he asks in an accusing tone. The next thing Hiccup knows he's got a wand pressed into his hand and Charlie's expectant face hovering in front of him.  
  
“Try to do some magic,” he says, but Hiccup stares at the thin stick he's holding.  
  
“Um, sure?” he says. “Howbeit I think I'd know if I was a wizard by now. Don't you people show signs when you're a wee twelve pound actor? Also - how do I do magic, if I am even capable of that?”  
  
“You just do,” is the helpful answer he gets. Hiccup waves the stick up and down a bit, but nothing happens. “Try saying 'Flipendo' and point the wand at something.”  
  
“Flipendo,” Hiccup repeats without much enthusiasm and sure enough, nothing happens. Charlie takes back the wand.  
  
“Maybe this wand doesn't like you. We should get you to Ollivander, see if something resonates with you. Because there's no way a Muggle could pull off what you just did. That Green Welsh actually listened to you! I've never seen anything like it. I thought it'd snap you up in one bite!”  
  
“Toothless would've done something if that dragon had bad intentions,” Hiccup says. The Night Fury crawls closer, sensing the appreciative head-rub his rider wants to dole out and Hiccup obliges, tickling his dragon underneath his chin. “He's got great intuition for things like that and it's saved me more than once. And what did you call him? Green Welsh?”  
  
“Common Green Welsh, actually.”  
  
“Does he have a name?” Hiccup asks. Charlie puts his wand away and goes to pat down some errant flames still smoldering in the grass where the Green Welsh had drawn the line.  
  
“We call him Martha.” The spell working its magic on his vocabulary tells him that 'Martha' is generally a woman's name, but Charlie kept referring to the Green Welsh as 'him'. “We found out that she's a he but the name stuck,” Charlie explains once he spots the confusion on Hiccup's face.  
  
The Nadders in the troupe snarl at each other, their high-pitched whines easily traversing the distance and Hiccup turns to go deal with that. “Once they're settled in I'd like to hear how you got to become a dragon trainer,” Charlie says and Hiccup throws back a smile over his shoulder at the man. “Sure, I owe you that at the very least.”  
  
As Hiccup walks towards the Nadders he can't help but go back over the near-accusation of magic. He doesn't actually have that… does he?  
  
XXX  
  
The sanctuary feels a lot more like home than Hogwarts ever did to Toothless. The castle was too big, the color of the stones was too dark and the children were all so … armorless. Humans wear yak leather, wool and metal, that is how it should be. They don't smell like apples, powder and ozone. They should smell salty, their hands are to be rough and their faces freckled.  
  
The rolling hills are populated by squirrels, hedgehogs, rats and pigeons and all kinds of creatures Toothless loves to chase. He'll eat them if he catches them, although he much prefers fish. There are plenty of deep streams to hunt in and although there are territorial scent marks of the large green dragon all over the place, the dragon itself stays on the far side of its territory and Toothless in turn makes sure that the dragons in his flock respect the line the big dragon's drawn. With Terrible Terrors it's hard to keep them from crossing it but a few well-placed thwacks of his wings give them the general idea.  
  
Hiccup stays by his side for a few days, making sure that the dragons are settling in okay. The red-haired man - Charlie, his rider keeps calling him - helps him with that job. The guy soaks up the knowledge his rider doles out.  
  
The more frustrating part of the sanctuary is that the sweaters have worn out. Those on the Terrible Terrors go first but on the last day Hiccup is to remain in the sanctuary Toothless' own fuchsia sweater gets a hole in it as Hiccup snags his metal foot on the threads as he climbs into the saddle.  
  
Toothless grunts his displeasure and while Hiccup does apologize, it's quite insincere. The flight around the territory they've claimed only enlarges it as the threads can no longer cope with the continuous movement of his wings. By the time they land Hiccup snags his foot in it again and faceplants into the ground, tearing it apart. Toothless chuckles but still moves away as his rider scrambles back to his feet.  
  
“C'mon, let's get rid of that. It's just threads now,” Hiccup says. Toothless bounces away as Hiccup pulls a knife from his belt.  
  
It was a gift from the big man! The one who had taken such good care of the subjects of the Night Fury, even all Toothless could do was mark the man as one of his own so other dragons knew that the man was trustworthy.  
  
“Toothless!” Hiccup cries in an exasperated voice as the Night Fury keeps out of reach of the knife. They chase each other in a circle for a while, his rider also enjoying the chase even though he grumbles continually. Toothless sees the spark in those eyes and rears back on his hind legs as Hiccup vaults over the saddle bags and runs straight at Toothless, emitting a feeble Viking battle cry.  
  
Three loud pops sound around them and all of a sudden there are unfamiliar stick-people all around them, their robes flying with the twirl of their teleportation and their intentions unknown. Hiccup skids to a halt, gets his good foot hooked around a rock and goes sprawling to the ground right at Toothless' feet. The Night Fury comes down on all fours above his rider, trapping him underneath his belly and opens his wings wide, snarling at the attackers. He gets ready to grab his rider and take to the air, however brief that flight might be, in order to get away.  
  
“No no no Toothless it's okay!” Hiccup says in rapid tones, squirming out from underneath the lizard's belly. “They're going to take me to London to meet the leader of the investigation.”  
  
Hiccup pushes himself out from underneath the dragon using his good leg and climbs to his feet. Toothless lowers his wings and watches with a wary eye as Hiccup greets the stick-people. Hiccup hoists one of the straps of the saddle bags over his shoulder and pats the contents, still talking to the stick-people. When he's done, they offer him a hand but he doesn't take it. Instead, he turns to Toothless and walks up to him.  
  
“Alright Toothless, I'll be gone for the rest of the day,” he says in a normal volume. He takes the face of the Night Fury in both his hands and puts his forehead against that of Toothless. “If I'm not back by moonrise, get Charlie to come look for me,” he adds in a much softer tone. “He says he vouches for at least one member of the investigation, says he's an old family friend. But I'm still not risking taking you into the Red Death's lair. It's you they want to study, not me. So stay here, stay safe in the sanctuary. See you tonight.”  
  
Toothless laps the face of his rider and Hiccup doesn't protest the treatment. He only wipes it off when he walks towards the stick-people. He takes their hand and pops out of existence. Toothless hopes that he'll come back.  
  
XXX  
  
The lobby of the Ministry of Magic is lot more impressive than its interior corridors connecting the offices of the Department of Mysteries. Here there is a lot more shining marble and the hustle and bustle of wizards going about their work. The three wizards accompanying Hiccup steer him towards a small box which rattles as it comes into view. Wizards in dark robes spew forth from the box and the three wizards start walking forwards, so Hiccup falls into step. Weird looks are thrown his way because he's the only human inside this ... moving cage not wearing robes. He's got a badge pinned to his clothes which should inform them that he's a visitor, even though he had to wait a bit for the three wizards to convince the lady guarding the entrance that yes, he's a Muggle, yes, he does need to go into the Ministry.  
  
"Level nine, department of Mysteries," a pleasant female voice calls out from nowhere after they've rattled their way downwards. When the wizards accompanying Hiccup step out they murmur an automatic greeting to their fellows. This floor is not as imposing as the lobby, but the blue torches lend the corridor an eerie feeling. Hiccup remembers the sudden appearance of the blue-lit room which started off this whole endeavor and as they walk he pats the handle of his flame-sword. Still there. The lady guarding the entrance only wanted to see his wand, which he didn't have. Nobody mentioned giving up any of his other weapons, so he in turn kept his mouth shut. It's as if these wizards don't realize that you can kill just as well with a dagger as with a wand.  
  
"Here we are," the leader of the bunch says. He touches a seam in the wall and a door slides open, giving access to a large room. "Mr. Leary, he's your problem now," the man continues with a touch of humor in his voice.  
  
"Thank you," Hiccup says, stepping into the room with a click of his metal foot. The door slides shut behind him and for a moment it feels as if he's caught in a prison cell. No doubt you need magic to get out, myths always work that way. Although the room is big enough to hold fifteen people, only three are sitting at the oval table. The blue torches have been replaced by a glass chandelier. There's also a fireplace in the room, although there's no fire burning in it. The walls are a matte black and it all screams 'expensive' to Hiccup. The first person to catch his eye is the woman. She starts talking, fast, asking him questions as he seats himself besides the man with black hair who has the pale complexion of someone who doesn't spend a lot of time sleeping.  
  
The woman's robes, unlike that of the third man who seems familiar to Hiccup, are made of a glossy fiber, catching the light in pleasant sheens - no doubt to distract from the fact that she has no eyes. Her hair is a curly bright red and she's portly. The name she introduced herself with, Clarence Clearwater, fits her in Hiccup's opinion. Neither of the two men can get a word in edgewise as she starts asking questions about Toothless, about how it's going at Hogwarts, about his Viking life. Hiccup doesn't need introductions to arrive at the name of the third man - Danny Leary is his name, and he was the one who formally apologized on behalf of the Ministry back when they'd first came here.  
  
With Clarence shooting question after question at him, Hiccup talks. He tells them about the sudden appearance of Firglide, up to the most recent addition of another one of Smidvarg's gang. He talks until his mouth goes dry - they fetch him some water and he continues, detailing the dragons of his hometown and finally he tells them about the fear that some far larger and more dangerous dragon is due to pop up. He adds a bit about just wanting to go home and take his dragons with him because it's clear that they don't belong in this time, the far-away future of the year 2018.  
  
Clarence waits a few seconds before she puts the question that's been burning in her throat since the beginning of this… meeting out on the table. She works for the Department of Control of Magical Creatures, after all.  
  
“Tell us about the Night Fury,” she says.  
  
“What about him?” Hiccup asks a bit warily. Clarence bends over the table, her good ear tilted towards the Viking.  
  
“That's why you got transported here in the first place, right? Because they were looking for an Alpha?”  
  
Danny Leary taps his quill on the mahogany table a few times. “I'm not going to ask how you know that, but I'd prefer the secrets of my department be kept secret.” The tone is lackluster and Clarence mumbles an apology, sitting back upright.  
  
“Tell us more what you know of Alphas,” Danny invites. Hiccup's mind first flashes back to his mother before the enormous white dragon even surfaces.  
  
“They can control other dragons,” he says, shoving the image of his Toothless gathering plasma in the back of his throat out of his mind. He plunges on so he can focus on something else. “They're huge, and the two I've met both had specialties, like creating ice. They use their tusks to fight and have the biggest protective instinct of them all.” His mind slides over to the darker Alpha. “But they can be driven down to Tammany,” is all he says about that. It's clearly not enough for the wizards. “They nest,” he says before any of them can interrupt. “They care for their own.”  
  
“You met two of them?” Danny asks. Hiccup nods and details meeting the lumbering beasts, glossing over some of the events which led him there and the consequences of those actions.  
  
“And now I’ve got a question for you,” Hiccup says once he’s finished talking. He puts his hands on the table and leans forward. “How are you going to get us home?”  
  
“Magic,” the dark-haired man says. So far he hasn't said anything but his green eyes sparkle as the other two people sigh at his glib reply.  
  
“Harry,” Danny groans.  
  
“Well, your department is keeping the Alpha angle a secret and I had to bribe Mr. Ainsworth to even get the most basic of information on this case - even when they put me on it! So. Magic is all I've got on your progress so far, Mr. Leary.” He sounds unhappy but not accusatory, the exact political tone Stoick the Vast used on chiefs of other tribes. Hiccup swallows away the memory.  
  
Danny raises his wand and utters a few words. The air shimmers around them and the faint echoes of footsteps in the corridors fade away. It's as if there's a whole other world inside this bubble of space.  
  
“Here's the details,” Danny says. Harry, Clarence and Hiccup lean in because the man's tone is soft. “We've had the counter-curse on the Alpha summoning ready from day one, in case the beast turned out to be too violent to contain. When we had contained you and your dragon, mister Haddock-” Hiccup frowns at the soft term, remembering the blasts of red striking Toothless again and again, but he doesn't interrupt the first explanation he's gotten so far - “we were ready to send you back. You wouldn't even have crossed the threshold of the room. We would Obliviate you and it'd be like a bad dream for you. But.”  
  
Danny tone gets louder now that he can finally spill the beans. “Something is blocking every attempt to send you back. We can send items back, small creatures, absolutely everything. Except either of you two.”  
  
Hiccup does interrupt this time. “You were going to send me back without Toothless?” he demands, smacking his hand down on the table. Clarence flinches at the sudden sound.  
  
“We tried,” Danny concedes. “And your dragon without you. We would of course reunite you,” he hastens to add as a storm brews on Hiccup's features. “The Ministry of Magic made you a promise and I, we, intend to keep that. It was an experiment, because the only thing we found out so far that the source of the blocking is a powerful, ancient magic from an inhuman source, and the area where it's originating from.”  
  
“Next time you try it on the dog with me or Toothless, I'd like to know about it,” Hiccup says darkly. “Seems like the right thing to do."  
  
“Oh, in that case, we do want to run some experiments on you later. We got an interesting owl from Charlie Weasley.”  
  
Something in the translation spell is not doing its work. An interesting bird?  
  
Danny interprets the confused look on Hiccup's face as something else, because he says: “He says you can talk to dragons. I mean, we all can, but they understand you.”  
  
Harry looks at Hiccup and he stares back with an ever more puzzled expression. “Of course they can,” he argues. “They're intelligent beings. You just got to get to know them.”  
  
The Auror gives a small snort. “I've fought a few dragons. They don't come across as very intelligent to me. I tricked one just by pretending to be a fly.”  
  
Danny is not done, yet. “How smart would you say your dragon is, Mister Haddock?”  
  
“About the level of a five-year old,” Hiccup replies. Clarence's mouth falls open.  
  
“But they're so violent! And not much smarter than, like, a cat.”  
  
The lecture is out before Hiccup even notices it. It's been building since his first day at Hogwarts and the more he understands about this world, the more pressing the matter becomes. That, and the blue light puts him on edge. He's in enemy territory and these three only have questions, no answers.  
  
“Maybe they're violent towards you because you use dragon heartstring in your wands,” he says flatly. He begins to gesture and gets up from the chair because these things matter and as long as he can get some allies in this whole mess, he can maybe start changing the world bit by bit. “Maybe they attack on sight because your children walk around with dragonhide gloves. They use their livers in potions, they use their blood to heal! You keep them hidden away, you put them down when they get too big. The dragons never had a chance to show you how intelligent they can be when they have to look over their shoulders every single day because their powdered bones are worth more to you than their lives!”  
  
“It's because you have dragontongue, mister Haddock,” Danny interrupts.  
  
“I have a what now?” Hiccup asks, momentarily taken aback at this non-response to his rant.  
  
“It's a rare magical ability, which means you can understand their language and they understand you.”  
  
The green-eyed wizard called Harry sits up straighter and gazes critically at Hiccup. “Like Parseltongue?” he asks, a word which has meaning for the other wizards but Hiccup is entirely thrown off-track. He's a master at soulful speeches and pleadings of understanding and respect for dragons, not this shift into linguistics. He can only speak English by the grace of a complicated spell, and now they're saying he speaks a second language altogether.  
  
“But I'm not a wizard,” Hiccup protests as he sits back down. “I wouldn't use dragon blood in potions.” Danny cocks his head and ignores the jab.  
  
“No, you're not. However, that doesn't mean you don't have passive non-human magic somewhere in your blood. And I can find out if you do have that, if you want.”  
  
Hiccup wants to rant some more about the misuse of dragons in the wizarding world, but this is not the right audience for it. He has to go up higher, but right now he's curious about dragontongue. He's always understood Toothless, Hookfang and the other dragons of Berk. It's a learned ability as far as he's concerned, because in the beginning he didn't understand what Toothless meant whenever he crooned and whined. But now he can read the dragon without even thinking about it, like… a second language.  
  
“I do want to find out,” Hiccup says. “But I still want to know about any other experiments you're running on the both of us.” Vikings are a stubborn lot and Hiccup Haddock the Third is no different.  
  
“We'll need to head to one of our experimental rooms,” Danny says. “I've got some instruments over there.” Clarence and Harry both perk up and usher them out. Harry tells Hiccup in short words that usually, venturing deeper into this department is forbidden for wizards from other departments due to the nature of the studies going on inside of this place.  
  
“So, what is Parseltongue?” Hiccup asks to keep some conversation going and keep him from noticing the smells wafting from the gaps underneath some closed doors they pass as they head towards this experimental room.  
  
“The ability to talk to snakes,” Clarence replies. She taps her wand against her leg as she walks. She walks as if she can see, veering around people they pass, turning corners without problem. She keeps pace with them without trouble and Hiccup wants to ask her how she's doing it but it's probably just as rude to ask 'how can you see' of a person in this time as it is in his. “It's a rare ability as well, and… usually only Dark wizards can speak Parseltongue.”  
  
Hiccup places the capital letter without trouble. “And what is dragontongue's reputation?” he asks.  
  
Harry shrugs. “Never heard of it,” he says.  
  
“You don't read enough books,” Clarence says. “I do. Those who have dragontongue…” she trails off and Hiccup patiently waits a few seconds to allow her to conclude her sentence. “History shows that they die young when they come across an unfriendly dragon which doesn't listen.”  
  
Hiccup thinks back over the many brushes with death he's had since he first mounted Toothless. She's got a point - it'll be a miracle if Hiccup dies in his bed. Then again, most Vikings don't. Valhalla is only reserved for those who die in battle or childbirth, after all, and he's determined to find his father in Asgard's great hall.    
  
“Talking to dragons doesn't mean commanding them,” Danny says casually. “In here.”  
  
He opens a door and walks into a room consisting mainly of rocks. Geodes, to be precise, the insides of the stones glittering in all colors of the rainbow in the light. Shelves upon shelves of geodes, all of them labeled in the strange script Hiccup recognizes as English. The room is rather cramped with all four of them inside. Danny points his wand at a wooden stool and it drags itself to the center of the room.  
  
“Take a seat,” he says, and Hiccup climbs on, wondering how sparkling stones are supposed to show that he's got some kind of magical ability. Then again, partially digested stones make up Gronckle Iron, even if it took Fishlegs a while to work out the recipe.  
  
Danny starts grabbing geodes off the shelf and puts them in Hiccup's hands, barely giving him time to take hold of it before he whisks it away. More than once the rough outsides scrape across his palm. Most of the geodes remain dark but once or twice they light up from within, the color inside the geode reflecting off the polished black marble on the floor. Danny puts those aside.  
  
“So… these detect magic?” Harry asks.  
  
“Sort of,” Danny says, and then doesn't elaborate. Hiccup is left holding a small purple geode and one with white-yellow square crystals on the inside. Danny studies these for a bit while they merrily pulse and a shiver passes down his spine when he realizes they're synced to his heartbeat. Danny then grabs the purple one and moves it over Hiccup's body. It shines brightest near Hiccup's face and, strangely enough, when pressed against his amputated leg.  
  
“They detect different kinds of latent magic, and magic from another source than the human core,” Danny finally says. “It was a bit of a failed project but it started back up when we realized that someone's soul could be pressed onto another's, and the magic that came along with that soul.”  
  
Danny gives Harry another meaningful look and Hiccup is growing more and more curious about this Auror. He seems to have a history with this department, different kind of tongues and now souls. Why is this a thing in this world? Hiccup has long since determined that his soul is going to Valhalla, but these wizards have all kinds of crazy ideas about whatever comes next.  
  
“So we gathered these volcanic geodes and matched them with a lot of wizards and magical creatures until we had a rough catalog of what material responded to what kind of magic. It's not as fine-tuned as it should be, but we're getting there.”  
  
“So it's a bit like wandlore,” Clarence says, like that word should mean anything.  
  
“We had some help from mister Ollivander, yes,” Danny says. He holds out a red geode for her to grab, realizes that the woman can't tell what he's doing and he reaches forwards with one hand to grab hers. When he gets within five inches of her she seems to notice him and holds up her hand. He deposits the geode in Clarence's hands. It shines a little bit brighter, barely noticeable in the torchlight.  
  
“You've got a bit of vampire somewhere in your ancestry, two hundred years past. The geode you're holding glows red."  
  
“That's not fine-tuned?” Hiccup asks. Two hundred years ago barely makes it into any sort of calendar he's used to. That's ancient history. Clarence passes the stone to Harry but it dulls in his hands. Danny, now curious himself, gives Harry the same treatment as he did Hiccup but none of the stones light up in his hands.  
  
“You've got a very human lineage, Harry,” Danny comments before turning back to the purple and yellow-white one Hiccup is still holding. Harry and Clarence look like they still have to come to terms with their ancestry but Danny is a blunt guy.  
  
“And your mother has some latent magical ability, which she passed on to you. She didn't have enough to be called a witch or perform any kind of magic, though. Your blood got mixed with that of a dragon when you were very young and it manifested itself as dragontongue.”  
  
Hiccup takes a moment to digest that. His mother, a witch?  
  
“Methinks she has dragontongue too,” he says slowly, thinking back over the way she treats dragons, talks to them, have them respond to her.  
  
“More blood mixing,” Danny analyzes. “And what makes you think that?”  
  
The master dragon rider sums up his mother's long absence from his life and what she was doing all that time - taking care of dragons.  
  
“And your father?” Harry asks. Hiccup's expression tightens and he swallows hard.  
  
“No. He doesn't - didn't - have any sort of magic.”  
  
None of the present wizards and witch comment on his use of the past tense but Clarence's expression softens and Hiccup forces his mind into its critical analysis of Danny's comments.  
  
“But my friends… they all ride dragons, talk to them on the same level I do. And I don't think we're a village full of hidden wizards.”  
  
Danny absentmindedly hands Hiccup a fresh set of stones but they all remain dark. “Did they have contact with dragon blood when they were young?” he asks.  
  
Hiccup shrugs. “Could be, we were at war with them until I was fifteen.”  
  
“Enough contact with dragon blood and you get dragontongue. It's rare because nowadays there are barely any dragons around, and we tend not to slaughter them. The ingredients we use in potions come from dragons that have died of natural causes.”  
  
The subtle put-down makes Hiccup's ears burn but he defiantly raises his chin. Danny grabs hold of the purple geode and Hiccup instinctively ducks as Danny tries to smash the rock into Hiccup's jaw.  
  
“Hold still!” he calls.  
  
“Don't bash my skull in then!” Hiccup snaps back.  
  
“Where did you get that scar on your chin?” Danny asks. Hiccup uncurls from his protective position and puts one finger on the long, thin scar. The same one his mother recognized at first sight.  
  
“Cloudjumper,” he says softly. “I got that when I was a wee babe.” He allows Danny to put the rock close and it pulses with a bright light, brightest it's been.  
  
“That's the initial point of transfer,” Danny says. He moves the geode over to Hiccup's leg. “And that's the second. First one gave you the ability, second one gave you a deeper understanding.”  
  
Hiccup wants to get off the stool now, get something to drink and think a few things over. Well, he really wants to go flying on Toothless, but Danny's words force his mind back to the first couple of discoveries of the Night Fury.  
  
“I've always been able to understand Toothless,” Hiccup says.  
  
“But your dragon hasn't always been able to understand you,” Danny says. “At least, not on the level you're on now. When he… was he the one to bite your leg off?”  
  
“He saved my life,” Hiccup replies in a curt tone. “But yes.”  
  
“When he bit it off, his blood mixed with yours and from that point on he's been able to fully understand you, no matter what language you speak. All the dragons can - you gained full mastery over dragontongue.”  
  
Hiccup remembers the Common Green Welsh and Charlie's utter surprise - and Hiccup's wonder over the guy's reaction. Wild dragons have always responded to Hiccup's words, whether positively or negatively. But they didn't ignore him or kill him on sight. Danny's words were pure conjecture to Hiccup's worldview, but they did fit in.  
  
“I mean, you're speaking English right now, thanks to a translation spell.” Danny takes the geodes from Hiccup's hands and puts them back on the shelf. “Have you never wondered why Toothless can still understand you when you're not speaking Norse?”  
  
XXX  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright, done playing at Hogwarts, time to move the plot forwards. 45.000 words in and here comes Harry! And in case you dislike OC's, these are the only two who are going to show up from now on.
> 
> Glossary
> 
> Drive down to Tammany - Corrupt, bribe.
> 
> Trying it on the dog - experimenting, although it's more of a theatrical saying about showcasing a matinée show in a poor district before running it in a large theater.
> 
> Twelve pound actor - a child, mostly used in the context of newborns.


	11. Chapter 11

“So we're roughing it tonight?” Harry asks, as if those words are supposed to make sense to Hiccup. The spell in his minds whispers to him that it means sleeping out under the stars tonight, but that's the modus operandi of the dragon riders whenever they're traveling.

“Nah,” Charlie says. He points his wand at a nondescript piece of cloth laying by the campfire and it erects itself, turning into a tent big enough to fit one person.

 Hiccup continues rubbing Toothless down. The Night Fury has rolled around in some mud and it got underneath the saddle. Toothless didn't complain when Hiccup rode him for a long time around sunset to herd some Nadders away from Martha's territory until it got too dark to see. The Night Fury had to find his way back via echolocation, but Hiccup did see the dragon wince by the light of the campfire the two wizards had started when they landed.

“For how long are you staying?” Hiccup asks as he inspects the damaged scales from friction between coarse sand and saddle. It's not that bad, it'll heal within a few days.

“I'm supposed to take you back to the Ministry tomorrow,” Harry replies. He's stretched out on the grass with one of those butterbeers in his hand.

“Why do they think I need a guard?” Hiccup asks. Charlie barks a laugh.

“Told you he's sharp,” he says, clinking his butterbeer to Harry's. They both drink a few sips while Hiccup rinses out his sponge. By now he makes educated guesses what is and isn't possible with magic. So the sponge, bucket and water are all conjured up by Charlie and these small items will disappear into nothing in a couple of days. But for now he uses them to take care of his Night Fury. The dragon can't relax because Hiccup is tense, but the slow rumbles of a happy dragon do start up now and then.

“You already made a break for London once, and it was either that or keep you overnight inside the Department of Mysteries. And that place gives _me_ the creeps, so I volunteered to keep an eye on our literal flight risk.”

“And he wanted to meet Toothless,” Charlie says. Harry grins and doesn't deny it. He's brought along his broom and it lays next to him. “There's room inside the tent for you as well, Hiccup,” Charlie adds. Hiccup eyes the tent - barely big enough for him to stretch out in. Has to be some magic thing.

“No thanks,” he says with a smile. “I prefer to sleep with Toothless.”

Harry snorts in some butterbeer and begins to cough. He sits upright and Charlie pats him on the back. “I know you didn't meant it like that, but that came out wrong,” Harry finally says when he's done coughing. Another translation issue, then.

Since he once again met up with Toothless, Hiccup listens, really _listens_ , to the words coming out of his mouth. Their cadence is wrong, the syllables are wrong, it changes pitch at the wrong moment. English is so… soft compared to the words he's used to speaking. But, as he talks to Toothless, Danny's theory holds up. The dragon reacts to the language as if it's Norse. They all do, from the smallest Terrible Terror all the way up to Hookfang - not that the Monstrous Nightmare is a great listener.

“So, what modern invention has surprised you the most?” Harry asks. This was a question posed to him by some of Hogwarts' students, but now Hiccup has seen a little more of the world, and he's amended his answer.

“Your villages are so bright,” Hiccup replies. He's almost done with the sandy black hide and Toothless is already dozing, soothed underneath the steady hands and rhythmic movement of the sponge. “So, electricity, I think is what you call it. I can't get my head around how that works. I think I understand that steam train - that's just advanced mechanics - the students keep telling me about this thing called 'internet' but nobody's shown me a working 'computer' so far.”

“You're not surprised by the Hogwarts Express?” Harry asks and he sounds confused. Hiccup wrings out the sponge one final time, smiles at the content rumble Toothless emanates before he joins the two other men at the campfire. Charlie passes him a butterbeer and Hiccup takes a long swig before answering.

“It's a metal cart powered by combustion via pressurization. You see that tail fin?” he points to the heap of leather and metal next to the saddlebags. “I made that from scratch. I created this shield, which - see? slides open and there's a crossbow inside. I was the apprentice of a blacksmith for a long time, Harry. I know about combustion, I understand pressurization. I don't have the tools you guys do so I can't build one of my own, but I'm not that surprised that trains are a thing. They're on the big side, but I'd _love_ to see a train powered by a Scauldron."

Charlie grabs a new butterbeer, mutters a spell and pokes his wand against the bottle. It steams in the cold night air.

“Now, buildings, on the other hand… How do you build that high without them collapsing in on themselves? _That_ seems impossible.”

Harry appears mollified that Hiccup doesn't take it all in stride and he starts talking about reinforced concrete but he falters after that, because even wizards don't know exactly how modern architecture works. That, or they use magic to prop up their buildings.

“So, what does an Auror do?” asks Hiccup in turn and he gets treated to an explanation about white magic and dark magic - shouldn't that be black magic? - and the various wizards which practice the dark arts.

It's getting late but none of the men are willing to head to bed yet, not when the butterbeer flows and the conversation's good. Hiccup gets treated to tall tales about rogue dragons from Charlie, anecdotes about catching dark wizards from Harry and the dragon rider in turn gets to talk about his many exploits on Berk, on Dragon's Edge and every island in between. As the tales grow taller, Charlie rolls over to the tent, reaches inside and brings out a more intimidating flask than the orange hue of butterbeer. Charlie pours out a lot less of the drink and Hiccup smells the alcohol in it. He leans back against Toothless heavier and heavier as the night wears on, the slumbering dragon's rhythmic breathing making him drowsy as well. When the dragon had scuttled over he could not tell, since he'd left Toothless fifteen feet from the campfire so as not to disturb his slumber. He sips on the strong drink, enjoying the trail of fire it leaves down his throat. Maybe this is what it feels like to be a dragon.

They all jump when a loud whoop comes out of Harry's bag. He makes a grab for it but can't immediately find whatever's making the noise inside it. He points his wand inside and says “Silencio!”, which cuts the whoop off.

Toothless has his head raised, his pupils narrow in alarm. “Shh, it's alright, just some kind of instrument,” Hiccup shushes as the Night Fury growls. The dragon puts his head down with a whuff as the whoop cuts out and closes his eyes again but the peace and quiet is gone and Hiccup sobers up a little, heart racing.

Harry finally gets hold of the alarm and he lifts it from the bag. It's a small compass, giving off rapid pulses of green light. He taps it with his wand and the glow dies down until it's barely readable.

“It measures distortions in space-time,” Harry says by way of explanation. Hiccup turns quizzical eyebrows on the man. “A dragon is about to appear,” the Auror amends.

“Let's hope it's just a Gronckle,” Hiccup replies, getting to his feet. He scans the night sky for any sight of a large, winged reptile, but there's nothing there. Slowly he searches around, letting his eyes adjust to the night by walking away from the campfire. The cold assaults him and he shivers, his body too used to the glow of a campfire in front and the body heat of a fire-breathing dragon behind him. Still, no dragon in the sky.

Wait. A pinprick of light descends onto the ground and Hiccup begins to laugh. Well, technically it's a dragon, but… He tugs onto the sleeve of his tunic and covers his hand before scooping up the tiny yellow dragon.

“Got it!” he calls, walking back to the campfire. Charlie and Harry turn their attention to the empty space behind him, expecting a dragon to walk up, but there's nothing there. The heat in the palm of his hand grows unbearable and he puts the tiny thing down onto the ground, as near to the campfire as he can endure. It screeches once before scuttling into the fire and onto the biggest log, settling down onto it and purring contentedly, eyes half-lidded.

“It's a Fireworm,” Hiccup says as both men gape at the tiny dragon.

“Yeah, that name fits,” Charlie says.

“It's tiny!” Harry says, bending down to take a good look at the Fireworm. A few sparks drive him back and his eyes water from the intense heat of the campfire.

“That's why they travel in flocks. Their queen is a regular-sized dragon, though. 'bout as big as three Gronckles stacked on each other. But they burn _hot_ and leave fire behind. You ever try to put out an island? They're tiny but when they migrate... they wipe out villages.”

Charlie is done inspecting the Fireworm. “Just how many dragons are there in your time? I have never heard of any of these!”

“I've been wondering about the same thing,” Hiccup says as he sits back down on the ground, leaning back against Toothless. Now that the danger's passed, Toothless is once again dozing off although his ear flaps are still twitching as Hiccup talks. “Either they all die off somewhere between my time and yours, but the dragons would've made it into a book in your library, methinks. Or…” he hesitates, knowing how impossible it is, but these guys have magic, they conjure up sponges and keep impossible buildings upright, so maybe it's not as far-fetched as he thinks - “someone's keeping them hidden.”

“I don't think there're a lot of places to hide a Monstrous Nightmare,” Harry says, but Charlie spends a few moments chewing on this idea.

“This sanctuary is hidden,” he says, tipping his glass of strong drink towards Harry. It nearly spills over the edge and he snatches it back. "Not my Ogden," he mumbles.

“From Muggles,” the Auror counters. “Not wizards. Hogwarts's hidden as well, _and_ the Ministry _and_ the Leaky Cauldron and lots of places. I've traveled, I would've noticed something like giant fire breathing lizard over there, I'm perceptive.”

Charlie's lips tighten and he bites down on whatever he was going to say next.

“The world's a big place, Harry,” he says instead. “Maybe Deadly Nadders live in the rainforest. Firglide was born in the _bush_. And in Russia, Gronckle eats you. We don't have eyes all over the world at all times.”

Harry grumbles but doesn't come up with a new objection, slamming back his drink instead. He shivers and lets his mouth hang open. It's not smart to drink that much at once, it's called firewhiskey for a reason. Hiccup runs his fingers over the scales on Toothless' back paw and takes a hold of the travel blanket he keeps in his saddle bags. Whatever had taken the Gronckles and Nadders and Terrors of this world, he's not going to let it take his Night Fury.

"Maybe," Hiccup says absentmindedly. Toothless instinctively shakes his back paw at the itch before he settles down again. Hiccup spreads the blanket out over his legs to combat the cold creeping up as his body demands sleep, although his ears are burning and his mouth still feels like it's been on set aflame thanks to the firewhiskey. The fuzzy feeling in his mind hands him the courage to ask some painful questions, knowing that he'll get the truth from Charlie at the very least. There's just too much kinship as dragonologists between them for him to deny Hiccup. Also, the guy is getting drunker by the minute and a drunken Viking is as truthful as Syn.

"Your people have mentioned 'Obliviating' me a couple of times. I get that it means making me forget about you guys, and that your entire society is a secret." He smooths the blanket down before looking Charlie in the eyes. "How much can you make me forget? Could ya make me forget Toothless?"

Harry and Charlie share a look of unease before Charlie starts talking. "We wouldn't Obliviate you, Hiccup."

"Answer the question," Hiccup demands in a low tone.

"Your bond runs so deep... you wouldn't forget for long," Harry says. "But yeah, we could make you forget that Toothless is real."

Hiccup grabs the blanket in his fists and turns his eyes towards the campfire. "And what gives you the right to wipe my thoughts? Like your Ministry tried to do? On top of sending us back apart from each other? If they had done that, Toothless or I would be stranded somewhere near Berk, and _Toothless can't fly_ without me. He could've drowned, or starved to death, or maybe dragon hunters would find him." He locks eyes with Harry once more and lets go of the blanket. "Tell me."

They both remain silent for a bit, processing this disagreeable side of Hiccup. Now that Hiccup's had some time to stew over everything that happened today, he realizes that these wizards honestly think they're better than those they call 'Muggles'. It's in the way they talk about the outside world, the forced secrets because what if magic was used to better society for a huge part of the world? What if there had to be no more famine? Hiccup witnessed one fish turned into enough food to feed this entire dragon flock for one meal. Back home nobody will believe him if he tells this tidbit.

"I didn't know they tried to force you apart," Harry says. "But _that_ is the wrong thing to do. Friends need to stick together. Always. If I hadn't had my friends..." he trails off, refilling his glass. The flask seems to be enchanted as well, because the drink just keeps on flowing. Maybe the wizards only need a crumb to create an entire bread. No wonder the castle overflows with food. In this world, there are no famine months, no mid-winter to fear... Hiccup doesn't understand how these people give meaning to their lives if there is nothing to work for, and maybe it's the drink influencing his mind, but he pities them. Their maps show they have nothing left to explore.

"But you got to understand, the world you know is nothing like the world we live in," Harry continues. Hiccup inclines his head in agreement. "If we reveal us, we'll be hunted, like your dragons. We _could_ make you forget about Toothless for a while, but magic can't do everything. There are..." he snaps his fingers a few times, remembering the words, "core memories we can't touch. If you saw Toothless again after we erased your mind, you'd begin to remember."

"And how do I know you haven't already made me forget something else? Something inscon- icnison-" Hiccup shakes his head and forces his tongue - and the translating spell - to work properly. "Something inconsequential?" Hiccup asks over the low growl of his dragon at his back. The raised voices woke the Night Fury up - maybe he never went to sleep at all- and he rumbles low in his throat, replying to the displeased tone of his rider despite the realization that he has no idea what is being said.

"There are traces left," Charlie recalls. "Every time we use magic, it can be found." He doesn't bother getting up but simply walks on his knees over to Hiccup. He grinds his glass into the ground before getting his wand out. Toothless snaps out his teeth but reins his temper back in when Hiccup pushes his nose down with a gentle tap. Charlie puts the tip of his wand against Hiccup's forehead and it feels like he's being held at the edge of a knife. Hiccup involuntarily holds his breath as he looks up at the wand while Charlie mumbles something in an unfamiliar language. "Nope," Charlie concludes, releasing the... chant? spell? curse? from Hiccup. "Other than the English thing, nobody put magic on you."

Hiccup is hyper-aware of his dragon at his back, the rise and fall of the large body, the hot, fishy breath wafting over him, mingling their scent until dragon smells like human and human smells like dragon. He knows Toothless can tell a good from a bad, lying man, but Toothless doesn't hiss, rumble or even twists his ear-flaps down. Looks like Charlie is telling the truth.

"We don't erase minds just because, Hiccup," Harry says softly. He adds a thick log of wood onto the campfire and the flying sparks land on him. The Fireworm squeaks its approval and burrows into the wood, settling down for the night. Harry doesn't seem to notice the sparks, maybe because his cheekbones carry the red hue of beyond-tipsy, but not quite drunk yet. "If you had the power to make people forget about you and your dragons, wouldn't you use it?"

Hiccup wants to snap 'of course not' but as he opens his mouth to throw out his retort, Syn catches up with him. He _would_ use that power. Responsibly, carefully, making sure that nobody got hurt because of it, but he so would. He's the chief, he protects his village, humans and non-humans and everything in-between. So many of his problems would go away if he could make people forget.

"If Muggles knew what we could do, we'd be hunted down like those dragon hunters go after yours. I'll bet you've thought about how useful magic is, in the right hands." Harry's tone is still soft, but his gaze is sharp, the experience of a warrior hiding behind the green eyes. "And you think your hands are the right hands. Maybe they are. But don't think bad of us because the Ministry tried to screw you over." Harry pauses, realizes the words coming out of his mouth were not the ones in his head, but he plows on. "We have not messed with your mind, we dragged you here and we'll bring you back, whole. I give you my word as an Auror that nobody will make you forget anything."

A thick piece of wood breaks apart inside the fire and sheds ash everywhere, shifting the campfire from a gathered pile of logs to a haphazard glow as the embers spread out. The Fireworm crawls out from underneath the ashes and finds a new place to sleep, burrowing into the embers. There are a few tense moments of silence and Hiccup feels the alcohol force his thoughts in directions he doesn't want to go in. He's never been a happy drunk, whenever he has the luxury to drink. The beers and whiskeys of this future are much more potent than the ale he drinks with nearly every supper.

"Besides," Charlie adds with a chuckle, "you ride a magical being. That protects you, even as a Muggle. And you're not that Mugglish, you've got dragontongue, right? Seems to me we just need to find out what's been hiding all of your dragons from us here in Britain and we'll be good to go and send you back home!"

Hiccup appreciates the defusing statements and he leans back against Toothless, taking the blanket with him. The intense gaze disappears from Harry's eyes as well and the guy pokes at the campfire with his wand, making the spread out wood jumble back into a pile. To his credit, he does not disturb the Fireworm.

"Yeah, and I'm not letting whatever's been taking dragons take Toothless," Hiccup adds, earning himself an appreciative lick from his best friend. It makes his hair stand on end but this time he doesn't mind. His hair smells like fish half the time anyway, no matter how much he bathes. He deliberately steers his addled mind away from the subject of what he'd do if he possessed magic like Charlie or Harry. He's seen enough of their powers to know that he'd be a dangerous wizard, exploring the edges of what's possible. He's already befriended one of the strongest dragons around and uses its powers to further the interests of his clan. What else would he do if he possessed the ability to literally change minds, duplicate food, tear rocks apart with nothing but lightning?

Maybe it's for the best that he's a Muggle.

XXX

When dawn rolls around Toothless is up and nudging at Hiccup to get up already, the precious few hours of light are not to be wasted on sleeping in! His rider smells faintly of alcohol but mostly he smells like he needs to wash up a little. Hiccup grumbles and clutches the blanket a little tighter around himself. A few licks wake him fully up, unhappy grumping and all.

“Morning, Toothless,” Hiccup says with a sigh. His eyes are redder than they should be but a night of few hours of sleep won't kill the Viking. Toothless bumps his nose against Hiccup's side until his rider finally gets the message that he should accompany Toothless. He snaps on his prosthetic leg and stretches his back.

“Want to gear up and go for some flying?” he asks. Toothless rumbles a negative and starts walking in the direction of the stream. Hiccup follows, clearly not awake enough yet to use the kind of critical thinking skills he's getting a reputation in the archipelago for.

Toothless lets his rider walk alongside him and he starts sniffing the air before turning his nose pointedly towards Hiccup. Now that they're out of sight of the tent Hiccup starts to let go of some of those human inhibitions and he smells his armpits.

“You're right, I should wash my armor. It stinks of Night Fury saliva.”

Toothless laughs and races Hiccup to the stream. While the human strips down, Toothless wastes no time in exploring the frigid water. The water comes up to his belly and there are tiny fishes rushing all around them. They won't do for a proper meal but they're fun to chase around nonetheless. Despite their small size Toothless manages to get a hold of three of them and he swallows them whole. Back at the campsite a more fulfilling breakfast awaits but it's nice to have his rider to himself for once. There are no human children, no 'Ministry', no adult stick-wielders to distract Hiccup from some playtime with his dragon.

With all the noise they're making it's no wonder the large dragon whose territory they're borrowing makes an appearance. Despite its size it sneaks up on them, keeping downwind. Toothless spots the dragon when it's crouched on the other side of the stream, semi-hidden in the shadow of the trees and bushes. Since it doesn't screech, rumble or grumble any sort of warning, Toothless assumes it isn't hostile, merely curious. He chirps a greeting and gets a tentative chirp in return, albeit at a much lower pitch. The dragon looks a bit funny, nothing like Toothless has seen before. It's definitely a dragon, though, even if it smells like grass and swamp instead of fire and ocean.

The first chirp gets Hiccup's attention but he has to follow Toothless' line of sight before he notices the hulking dragon. He takes a step back in surprise and says “oh Thor it's the big one” in one rush of air while his gaze travels from the talons to its steaming nostrils. “Toothless?” he asks next and the Night Fury warbles a reassurance. The tenseness in Hiccup's shoulders dissipates a little.

“Hi there, Martha,” he says. “You're a silent one, aren't you?” He looks around at the stream. “We didn't accidentally run into your territory, did we? If so, I'm sorry, we'll pack up and go-”

The large, green dragon sits up on its haunches but keeps its wings folded, not posing a threat. Toothless takes a few steps closer to Hiccup and his rider puts his dexterous hands on top of Toothless' head when he lowers it. The guy doesn't seem to understand what Toothless is saying so he shoves him with his nose, towards the green dragon. Hiccup's sudden sweat stinks of fear but it washes away when he stumbles over a rock in the stream and goes down with a yelp. When he surfaces there's definite amusement in the green dragon's rumblings. Too bad the human can't hear the infrasounds produced by the large reptile.

“Oh,” Hiccup replies after he's wiped the water from his face. “You think? Time for the proper greeting?”

The green dragon watches with keen eyes. It's been in a few tussles, judging by the scars littering the paws and wings of the dragon. By now Toothless has found out that Hiccup can't hear most of the content rumbles dragons emanate to converse whether they're happy with the situation or not. In the beginning Toothless sometimes felt like he had to scream whenever he was talking to his rider, but as the years went by Hiccup has gotten a lot better at picking up the subtle body language of deeper conversations.

So Toothless gets to be the gauge whether or not a dragon is open to being greeted in the way Hiccup is familiar with - outstretched hand and a silent prayer to whatever god is listening that he won't lose another limb.

The green one looks to be open to it, as it lowers its head.

“Hi there, I'm Hiccup, this is Toothless,” Hiccup says as he takes a few steps closer. “They say your name is Martha. I'm glad that you want to share your territory, otherwise the dragons from my nest wouldn't have anywhere to go.” His hand is now feet away and the green dragon sniffs, taking in the scent of freshly washed human. Its eyes rove over Hiccup's body and it huffs, glad about something - Toothless isn't sure what that's about but at least now he's certain that the dragon won't betray him and gobble up Hiccup in one bite.

“So, thank you,” Hiccup finishes and puts his hand on the dragon's snout. The green one lets its eyes slide to a half-lidded position before it gets back up again. Its wings unfurl but it doesn't take off. Instead, it hisses at something behind Hiccup and he turns around.

The red-haired guy who has a temporary bond with Hookfang and the green-eyed stick-wielder are standing on the opposite bank, their wands out and identical expressions of awe on their faces.

“Put those away,” Hiccup commands, and the men listen to him. Martha stops his hissing but the peace of their meeting has been broken and it turns around after nodding its head towards Toothless. The Night Fury flicks his ears in return and the green dragon does take off while his wings are out.

Hiccup watches the dragon disappear beyond the tree line before he splashes back into the stream. His skin has broken out in those funny little bumps which makes his hair stand out. He starts talking to his fellow humans in that different language he uses ever since they landed in this world. They respond with traces of awe and shock still in their voices.

Toothless makes a half-hearted attempt to drag all of the humans into some playtime but that chance has passed, especially now that Hiccup is dressing himself again.

“C'mon, Toothless, breakfast,” Hiccup calls and it's Toothless' turn to shiver as he leaves the cold water. He pumps up some of the eternal heat in his belly towards his skin and trudges along behind the three humans. He bets his fish on it that Hiccup will leave after breakfast and he'll be stuck on the ground for another long, boring day.

XXX

Danny's robes are green today, and Clarence is dressed in a purple piece which doesn't suit the playfulness of her haircut - nor its color. None of them know yet that Hiccup has met a Common Green Welsh, because Harry hasn't mentioned it and an owl isn't faster than getting squeezed through a painful tube and be transported somewhere else in an instant. Magic. Hiccup will never get used to it.

“We may need to consult Hogwarts' library for this,” Danny says as he rolls out a map on the table. They're back in the room where Hiccup first met the taskforce 'Get Hiccup and Toothless home'. In Hiccup's opinion it's a much better description for what they're trying to achieve than its official name: 'Operation Dark Daffodil'.

“You know how to read a map, right?” Harry asks. Hiccup puts the cups of coffee on the other end of the map to stop it from rolling right back up. All of the adults he's met so far swear by the bitter drink and it seems to be a staple of the future. Hiccup's tried it but the taste reminds him too much of food gone bad and the horrible consequences should it happen to their supply during the famine months. So he sticks with the accepted alternative - tea.

“Yes,” Hiccup says simply. He still can't read the markings but he sees that it's a map of the Northern sea and the various islands above Norway, if his memory serves him right.

“Yesterday we had the general area where the source of the blocking magic is coming from, and it's around here,” Danny elaborates, circling the Barents Sea. “But it's stirring again, strongest this morning. I _just_ received a memo before you arrived, master Hiccup. And, good news, we've been able to pinpoint a much more precise location.” His finger creeps towards Norway, moving away from the northern island of Spitsbergen. “It's not on the nose, but we can cover the area by broom.”

Even before the finger stops moving Hiccup knows where it's going to land. It obscures the tiny dot he's pinpointed as the only surviving island of the archipelago. According to Albus, it's called Bjørnøya.

“Berk,” Hiccup says in a flat tone. “We'll need to find Berk.”

“That's your village, right?” Harry ascertains and Hiccup nods. He turns towards the Auror.

“I need to get my maps from the saddlebags,” he says. “Can you… Appaparate us there?”

Harry smiles, corrects him and they squeeze through the uncomfortable tube again, reappearing in the conference room in a few minutes time. Hiccup rolls out a much more worn map of his own making alongside the neatly-labeled and perfectly rectangular map of the Barents Sea. With the downtime at Hogwarts he's consolidated the extra additions of islands he's discovered into the regular map so there are no loose flaps of parchment.

“This is the archipelago where I'm from,” he says. “And it's nowhere to be found on your maps, except for this island.” He points it out and compares its size on his map to the overly detailed map of the future. His calculations are quite right, he's pleased to note.

“This is where Berk is. And I'll bet Toothless' saddle on it that the source of whatever is blocking us from getting home is right there.”

It feels _good_ to make plans. Hiccup hasn't realized how much he's missed this until now. To have a goal, to fly alongside someone and be in control of his own life instead of having to rely on mysterious governing bodies and the whim of wizards.

“I can see why they made you chief,” Clarence remarks casually. She taps her wand on the map before bending over it alongside Harry and Danny and things devolve into the wizards asking questions about the various islands Hiccup and Toothless have discovered and the dragons living on them before Hiccup steers their attention towards how they're going to get there. Such a long flight on a broomstick has to be uncomfortable. Toothless can easily make it, but not from the coast of England. Once again a Portkey is their answer.

“Why are you so sure that Berk is the source?” Clarence asks while Hiccup rolls up his map.

"Because in my life, it always is," Hiccup replies.

XXX

The Barents Sea shimmers under the light of the moon when they fly over it, but there are no other light sources. Not that Toothless needs that much light to see - his pupils are huge. From time to time he uses his echolocation to orient himself and the wizards follow in the dragon's wake. Dawn won't be long in coming but it's so much easier to travel under the cover of darkness. Toothless' camouflage works well against the patchy sea and the dragon picks up a few fish here and there as he skims the waves. Hiccup seems to be quite used to this pick-and-eat way of flying of his dragon because he steers the fin wherever Toothless wants to go.

Harry is not used to flying long-distance on his aging Firebolt. The strong magic in his broom is unraveling but it's still one of the best. Three new 'bolts have come out ever since he first got it as a gift but it'll take his broom slowing down to the speed of a tortoise before he thinks of giving it up.

They make good time, even with Danny riding on a Ministry broomstick, which aren't known for their speed. Sturdiness was much more important for the Ministry to invest in.

A small _pop_ is all they hear as a tear in time rips open and a dragon falls out. The most powerful magic makes such silly sounds, Harry finds.

“Another Terror,” Hiccup says softly. He and Toothless glide underneath the struggling dragon and the Terrible Terror either recognizes the Night Fury or no longer cares about a larger dragon eating it, because it lands on the wide expanse of wing and hurries towards Hiccup across the stretched skin of the Night Fury's wing.

“Hey there,” Hiccup croons. The Terrible Terror chirps something back and sniffs the air before settling in front of the rider, squeezing its small body between human and leather. It seems content to huff and puff its exhaustion in that position, but Hiccup lifts the relatively tiny dragon up into the air to inspect it for any wounds. In the dark of night Harry can't see its colors, but it has patches of brightness all across its belly. If its name is not 'Spot', it well ought to be.

“You alright little guy? What's got you so in oysterics?”

It emits a low whine and Hiccup's face brightens. There's something attached to the Terror's leg and Hiccup takes it off. It looks suspiciously like parchment.

Hiccup allows the Terror to settle on his shoulder. The dragon lets its legs dangle as it wraps the bulk of its body around Hiccup's neck with the head tucked underneath a wing. It lets out a puff of smoke, closes its eyes and appears to go to sleep.

The matter-of-fact way Hiccup handles the tiny dragon settles it for Harry: the man truly is a dragon trainer. The friendship between the Night Fury and the human might have been a fluke, something born out of desperation. But the Terrible Terror accepts the man's authority without question - the danger of getting his head flamed off hasn't crossed Hiccup's mind. He knows the small dragon will not harm its rescuer, so he acts according to that knowledge. Any other wizard would've stunned the small creature and conjured up a cage to transport it. But instead Hiccup allows it within optimal biting- and scratching range and a small dragon is lethal that up close.

It's not that he uses dragontongue to make the fire-breathing lizards understand him, it's the respect he shows them, and the trust he gets in return. Harry has seen Hagrid go ga-ga over Norbert, but Hiccup isn't blind to the danger they pose. He's lost a limb to the dragon he's currently riding, after all.

"Hey Harry?" Hiccup shouts over his shoulder. The Terrible Terror squeaks but settles down fast. Harry leans forward on his broom and catches up to the man. "Could you shine a light? I need to candle this letter."

Harry keeps his broom as steady as he can next to the flapping wings of the Night Fury while he mutters "Lumos." Hiccup is a fast reader, he skims over the runes in seconds.

“But this is from months ago!” Hiccup says out loud. One of Toothless' wings slams against his Firebolt and the dragon jerks sideways.

“What is it?” Harry asks, creating a bit of distance between himself and Toothless. The dragon sure can look _annoyed_ , even if it lacks a human face.

“We use Terrible Terrors… like you use owls,” Hiccup replies. “We send letters back and forth between Berk and the Edge. But this note...” he waves it in the air, indiscernible runes visible in black ink. The parchment is ripped at the end, the tops of runes visible at its edge. “I wrote it to Fishlegs a couple of months ago.”

“What does it say?”

Hiccup sobers up and stops waving the parchment around. “Keep your distance, don't come back to Berk.” Harry's mouth sets into a thin line. Toothless croons a reassurance. “But after that it should say 'until you've made contact with the twins or Snotlout'. Not this… threat.”

“So, is 'the twins' a name or are they literally twins?” Danny interjects, drifting closer on his Ministry broom.

“Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Why do you ask?”

“Because you have a friend named 'Fishlegs' and your name is 'Hiccup',” Harry points out.

“You're named after a potter and Clarence' last name is 'stream',” Hiccup shoots back.

“Your dragon has teeth, but his name is 'Toothless',” Danny adds from behind them.

“Can- can we focus here!” Hiccup finally shouts. “Someone sent this, they don't want us to find Berk, so...”

“We're going to keep looking, of course,” Harry says with a grin. Hiccup grins back and bends lower over the saddle.

“How fast are your brooms?” he asks, looking around at Danny.

Harry narrows his eyes at the speck of a challenge thrown his way. “Faster than your dragon, I reckon,” he replies.

Hiccup hunches forward, mindful of the little guy hanging off his neck, and flips his mask down. we'd better get to Berk _real_ fast,” he says. Toothless warbles his agreement and Harry can see the muscles underneath the black skin bunch up in preparation of a powerful head start. He himself lowers his torso across his broom as well. Nothing like a race to keep the blood pumping in this night sky.

“We'd better,” Harry replies. Danny gets into a starting positions. One, two, three beats and then they're off, humans and dragons racing through the whipping air, the Terrible Terror's startled squeak drifting out behind them.

XXX

**A/N:** This chapter kicked my ass. Took a Firewhiskey of my own (spicy mead) to put down the first draft of the campfire conversation, and a lot of sober editing. Also, do _not_ drink more than a mouthful of that at a time because my throat is still on fire. So Harry suffers the same fate because author regrets nothing, author regrets everything.

Fun fact: I share a surname with one of the explorers of Bear Island (Bjørnøya). Also, its location fits quite well into canon and it's so remote there could be a new Bermuda Triangle up there and I doubt anybody would notice.

 

**Glossary**

Oysterics - satiric play on 'hysteric' because oysters were rumored to be the cause of typhoid fever.

To candle - to examine closely. (Holding an envelope in front of a candle to see if there are one or two sheets of paper inside so the clerk can charge for the right stamp.)

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

Hiccup has had to rely on Toothless' intuition countless times. The Night Fury seems to have a sixth sense when there's danger around. In this time dragons are classified as magical creatures, and Hiccup agrees with that assessment. His dragon navigates through pitch darkness with nothing but sound echoing around him and his skin fends off the largest fireballs.

"There's nothing here!" Danny tries one more time, but Hiccup flips his mask back up so he can talk more clearly.

"Toothless thinks there is."

"Your dragon's wrong," he says.

"I doubt that," Hiccup replies. He steers Toothless a little further away from the man. Danny's teeth are chattering in the cold wind. He should've brought warmer clothes, he knew they'd be on a broom/dragon all day. And it's not that cold. They've been at it for a while now, but there seem to be no signs of any other islands of Hiccup's archipelago around, safe for the two he's identified on the map. There were no outward signs what could've happened to the other islands on those two, no Whispering Death marks, nor any sign of a Screaming Death.

Hiccup would've expected to see a sign of a dragon of his hometown by now. Maybe not another Terrible Terror bearing a letter from one of his riders, the odds of that are infinitesmall. But there should be Nadders, Fireworms, just, _dragons_. Here the skies are only occupied by seagulls and other waterfowl. Toothless snaps at a few and they steer clear of him, squawking their indignation as they extend their wings and let the thermals lift them up.

Toothless has taken over control. It's only felt by Hiccup, the others follow his lead. They circle over where Berk should be but there's nothing but blank sea for miles. Not even a sea stack to mark their village. No graves, nothing to show the world that humans and dragons can live in peace. No wonder they all thought he was mad in the beginning. Toothless hovers in place and paws at the air, but nothing happens. He snorts and shakes his head and Hiccup feels the muscles bunch up underneath the black skin. He leans forward in the saddle in preparation and flips down his mask. He gathers the Terrible Terror underneath his torso and secures him between his elbows. The sleeping dragon yawns but settles into the saddle without protest, resuming its nap. For the first few strokes of the large wings, Danny keeps up, but soon the Night Fury outpaces his broom, save for one. Harry keeps pace in their slipstream, something which greatly annoys Toothless. He warbles a soft protest and Hiccup agrees with the sentiment. A Night Fury _has_ to be better than a stick and twigs. They streak over the empty ocean - wait, it's not entirely empty, large bubbles rise to the surface. A Scauldron? Hiccup tries to steer to the left so they can bank around but Toothless doesn't respond to the command. The wind begins to whistle over the sharp edges of Toothless' wings and Harry loses ground. Once he's cast from their slipstream the drag from his fluttering robes are enough to turn him from a human to a humanish blob in the distance.

"We'd better slow down, Toothless," Hiccup says, sitting up. He can't spot any landmarks - or land, for that matter. They circle slowly over the ocean. Harry takes a minute to catch up, while Danny joins them through Apparition.

"You'd b-b-better get that dragon under control before he abandons us again!" Danny snaps, although with his chattering teeth it does not have the impact it could have.

"Toothless has a hunch," Hiccup summarizes. He breaks out of the holding pattern and Harry joins him on starboard.

"That is one _fast_ dragon," he admires.

"The fastest," Hiccup can't help but boast and Toothless rumbles his agreement. The wizards drift back in the slipstream, making the flight a little easier on their brooms. When the outline of Bjørnøya becomes visible in the distance the Night Fury throws his wings wide and slams to a halt, the wizards behind them scattering on their brooms.

"Hey!" Harry calls, somersaulting with his Firebolt to hover in front of Toothless. "What gives!"

"I don't-" Hiccup starts to say, but then Toothless stretches out a paw and taps the air. It's a simple move, but it sets a lot of things in motion.

The air shimmers, ripples stretching out from where the Night Fury touched it. The sky in front of them turns a bright pink, a shell between Toothless and Harry. There is no indication where this shell starts and where it ends, but there are crisscrossing waves generated by the touch, the shell does not seem solid. The ripples travel across the empty air in a straight line, up and down and sideways. They're fading bit by bit but they still travel at least two miles, touching the edge of Bjørnøya before the sky drains back to a dusky grey. The sun won't take long to rise.

"Do that again," Danny commands in a low tone, his wand out and another measuring instrument conjured up from somewhere, any sign of chattering teeth gone.

"Could you show us again, Toothless?" Hiccup asks. Toothless obligingly taps the weird barrier and once more it flares up. There's no other sign of its existence when it fades out and Harry can pass through it with no problem. It only occupies space when Toothless touches it.

"What happens when you fly through?" Danny asks, his nose buried in his instrument. With his free hand he waves in the vague direction of Hiccup and Toothless.

"Wanna try it bud?" Hiccup asks. Toothless is growing tired of hovering and steers forward. They pass through with no problem. "And a plasma blast?" The deadly purple blast splashes down into sea with a hiss and steam, but the sky doesn't turn pink.

"What is that barrier, Danny?" Harry asks. The guy shifts his gaze from the seemingly empty air to his instrument and back.

"It's old. _Ancient_ ," he says. "And big. Those ripples resonate far." He tucks the instrument away and gets closer to Hiccup. "Can you get him to keep touching the barrier as we move alongside it?"

Funny, isn't it, how it's 'that dragon' when Toothless misbehaves, and a 'him' when he behaves?

"We can try," Hiccup says, shoving this observation down his list of priorities. He repeats the request and Toothless shifts to the left, occasionally tapping the air. He misjudges a few times and has to find it again, but Danny seems to be right. It's big. What if, and he barely dares to think this, it's a portal back to his time? They can pass through it alright, but they can't pass _through_ it yet.

The ability to conjure up temporary things comes in handy when they've flown for an hour alongside the barrier. Harry calls up raft on four barrels, big enough for Toothless to land on. Hiccup has to remain seated to make enough space for the other wizards. He stretches and so does Toothless, their bones popping. Hiccup wrenches a few extra cracks from his knuckles and earns himself a slap in the chest from Toothless. The dragon dislikes the noise of the joint pops, but the habit is too satisfying for Hiccup to give up. The Night Fury puts his tail around his front paws and nearly knocks Harry into the sea.

"And this means that-" Danny muttes to himself, writing fast on a piece of parchment he's spread out on the raft, occupying the meager space. He looks up and squints against the sun but finds the dark shape of dragon soon enough. "How big did you say your archipelago was?"

"We can cross it in twelve days as the dragon flies," Hiccup replies.

"Sounds about right," Danny concludes. He draws a big circle after a final consultation with his instrument and shows it to the others. "Judging by the curve, this shield covers a huge area."

He turns to Harry. "Can you move the raft a bit closer to the shield?"

He leans over the side of the raft and prods the calm sea with his wand. Toothless sticks his claws into the wood as the raft moves slowly until Danny asks Harry to stop. Hiccup knows what's expected of him.

"Toothless?" he asks, and the Night Fury needs no further prodding. He touches his nose to the barrier crossing right through the middle of the raft. He pulls back with a snort and wriggles his nose a few times as the pink ripples spread out.

Danny walks to the side of the raft inside the barrier and taps the piece of parchment he's used to calculate the affected area. Harry has to shuffle around him to offer him enough space. "Revelio mundi," he says. Nothing happens. He walks to the other side - Harry shuffles - and Danny repeats the spell. Lines crisscross the parchment and words appear, sketching out a map. He begins to smile.

"That's brilliant," he says. He looks up and runs his wand across the barrier, but he can't activate the pink streaks with his wand. "Clever."

He begins to chant several spells, with things like 'finite' and 'stop' in them, but once again the air remains dead. "And powerful."

Danny tries to get to the other side of the raft but Harry blocks him. "I know that's in the nature of Unspeakables to keep things to themselves, but you've used up your quota for the day. _Talk_ to us, Danny!"

The man looks like Fishlegs when he's discovered something new about his Gronckle - geeking out to the max.

"This whole area is Unplottable. Someone's hidden a huge chunk of Earth behind a barrier only a dragon can penetrate. This," he says, emphasizing his words with a poke of his stick against the shield, "is dragon magic. _Ancient_ dragon magic, holding up for hundreds of years. Maybe," he eyes Hiccup, "a thousand."

"And Berk's inside this... Utgard," Hiccup guesses. Danny nods. He keeps poking the barrier with his wand, as if it'll reveal itself if he jabs at it long enough.

"Your entire archipelago is inside. I've never seen… magic of this magnitude requires constant upkeep… who could've done something like this, and _why_?"

Maybe there _are_ wizards somewhere around Berk or other clans, banding together to hide it behind shields only those in liege with dragons can penetrate. It's a smart way to keep out the dragon hunters and those who seek to subdue and harm. Hiccup is going on a benevolent witch hunt when he gets home, that's for sure. But why hide for a thousand years? Berk is pretty self-sufficient but eventually the yak herd needs fresh blood, and there needs to be contact with other clans to share ideas and meet new people.

"I think there's an Alpha inside of there," Danny says, his eyes shining. Hiccup hasn't seen him this animated before. Toothless utters a questioning noise and Hiccup vividly remembers the blue shine underneath the black scales, the power the Night Fury displayed against the corrupted Alpha. "Only a powerful being can summon a shield this big," Danny concludes.

"So how do we get insi-"

Harry's question gets interrupted by the humongous jet-black dragon shooting out of the barrier, sending pink scattering everywhere like glass. It blots out the sun as it hovers in mid-air. Its hide isn't black like the Night Fury is black - it sucks in all the light of the surrounding area, showing nothing but purple eyes in narrow slits as it surveys the raft and the humans on it.

"Found your éminence grise," Hiccup says before Toothless takes to the sky.

The dragon is as big as a Scauldron. It's nothing but a silhouette against the sun, its four wings flapping to keep it aloft, drifting up and down with each flap. Its tail has four large spikes sticking out of it, two on each side and it swings like a pendulum, left, right, left, right.

Harry is at Hiccup's elbow, unknowingly executing a perfect wingman maneuver any dragon rider would be proud of.

"Any of yours?" he asks and Hiccup shakes his head. He steers Toothless around the dragon and it keeps its focus on the Night Fury, turning around while hovering in place.

It doesn't immediately attack, which is a good thing in Hiccup's book. But it doesn't _do_ anything either - no roars, no fire, nothing but silent flapping and intent staring. Hiccup halts a ways away from the unknown dragon and enters his own hovering pattern. Danny joins Harry as Hiccup's wingman, his wand out in case the dragon charges. Harry's hand is a lot steadier than Danny's.

"Hi there!" Hiccup calls in a loud voice. The purple eyes with the narrow pupils slide over to him, but it shows no hostility. "Did you make this shield? It's very good - and so large!"

The dragon's got whiskers framing its snout, thin white ones with a green tip. There are some more patches of purple on its hide, visible now that Hiccup's got the sun at his back. The purple runs like veins all over its skin with the thickest concentration around the eyes and belly. But the rest of its hide is still so black that it seems like the dragon is not all there, or a flat shape against the sea.

"Would you be willing to show us how to get through? We'd like to visit Berk!"

It snorts and dips lower. Toothless croons a question mark, underlining Hiccup's request. The unfamiliar dragon only seems to have eyes for the Night Fury, ignoring the humans.

"I promise we don't want to grass before breakfast. We want to find a way home, that's all, and we need to visit Berk for that. You can come with us if you want, and if we do anything you don't like, you chase us off and we'll go. Sounds good?"

That kind of logic may be a bit too advanced for a dragon's mind to comprehend, but Hiccup has seen hundreds of dragons, ridden more than twelve different species - and in his experience the larger the dragon, the smarter they are. Or more aggressive, it's a bit of a toss-up. The exception seems to be the Night Fury, but Terrible Terrors are not the smartest dragons around.

The unknown dragon flaps its wings with a decisive roar and somersaults back into the shield, disappearing in a ripple of pink waves. Toothless glides forward but however the dragon created the portal, it's closed once more. They sail through the shield without any disturbance in front or behind.

"Hiccup!" Harry shouts and Hiccup turns around on his saddle. The Auror hurries towards him, robes flapping in the turbulence of his speed. The dragon had barely paid any attention to the wizards, his focus had been on Toothless and Hiccup. Martha, the Green Welsh, had reacted immediately when wizards showed up. Weird.

"Can you hear me?" he asks. Maybe they _did_ pass through the shield, unnoticed. But the Firebolt is at his side in seconds and there are no pink ripples crisscrossing the air.

"Do you know what kind of dragon that was?" Harry asks. Hiccup shakes his head. Big black dragon, purple veins, whiskers... if he can get it to fire he can figure out what class it belongs to. Danny is last to join them, moving alongside them as Toothless levels out and finds a slipstream so he barely has to move his wings.

"Clarence might know," Danny says slowly, his face morphing into a frown. "And I've got an idea. But I need to visit the library to make sure."

Harry grins. "I've missed that phrase," he says cryptically.

"Or we could lure it out and capture it," Danny suggests. "Study it and get a definitive answer."

It's Hiccup's turn to snap. "We are _not_ doing that. He came out for a reason, so... might be a guardian, and with spikes like that could be a Sharp class - protective and territorial. He seemed interested in Toothless, so if we turn up again he'll show up. And he manipulates the shield, so maybe he created that as well, or maintains it. Take away a guardian like that, the shield could shatter and unleash Utgard-Loki or some other horrid being. And since you claim this is _dragon magic_ , this guy could be Mystery Class. Very powerful and deadly. If we disturb the shield, I think he'll turn up again, or maybe one of its brethren. But I'd rather fight them when Toothless hasn't flown all night, and we need to bring backup. You alright to fly back, bud?"

Toothless roars an agreement but Harry interrupts. "We move far faster with a Portkey." The Night Fury groans when Harry gets out the Portkey they used to get here and Hiccup agrees. Spinning through the air with a guarantee of a hard landing is no fun at all. Danny squeezes his lips and is not that happy with the decision to leave the dragon be, but his hands are white and shaking, so maybe he sees the sense in taking on an unfamiliar dragon when they're at the top of their game.

"The faster we can get home, Toothless," Hiccup reasons. He pats his dragon on its head before stretching out and touching the shammy Harry holds out.

XXX

The Owlery smells like the inside of Gobber's boot and many of the owls flutter away as Hiccup walks towards them. He smells a bit too much like dragon - predator - for them to trust him. A brave barn owl stays seated when Hiccup approaches with the parchment and allows him to tie it to his leg. The Terrible Terrors have worse manners and are infinitely worse at sitting still.

"This needs to go to Charlie Weasley," Hiccup instructs slowly, enunciating each word. The barn owl screeches as if in confirmation before it takes off through a hole in the wall. Hiccup sidesteps two owls as they bombard him with their droppings and hurries outside, now carrying the stench of old hay and dead mice with him instead of dragon saliva.

After the discovery of the shield they've gone off to Hogwarts once more. Apparently the Hogwarts' library is quite extensive, with all manner of rare books. It took Hagrid fifteen minutes to find out that one of his beloved dragons had returned and he basically picked up Toothless and whisked the dragon away, doting on him. The school is a familiar sight and it's a welcome idea that something in this strange world feels a tiny bit like home. It's kinder to his nerves than the harsh blue glare of the Department of Mysteries, where the threat of imprisonment still looms. Hiccup pushes open the door to 'his' bedroom and the hodgepodge furniture is still there. They've flown through the night and frankly, he's exhausted. Hiccup doesn't bother to suppress a yawn before he collapses onto the bed, not even bothering to take off any of his clothes. Despite the winter sun bouncing off the white snow outside, lighting up the room, he drifts off, burrowing into the thick bedsheets to ward off the light.

He doesn't sleep that deep, waking at the sound of students playing in the snow outside, the screech of an owl, but even as he senses time move on without him he refuses to acknowledge it. He sheds some of his outer layers to get more comfortable. The outside world comes crashing in when someone raps on the door, hard.

"Mastah Hiccup? Willube choining us for Khristmaseve dinnah?" the voice of professor Hackett asks. It takes a while for those words to reach him as Hiccup blinks away his sleep. His right arm is asleep and for a moment he panicks - magical curse laid on him by the mysterious dragon? - but the pins and needles soon return.

"Give me a moment!" he calls back, scrambling back into both his prosthetic, his pants and his boot.

"M sorry?" professor Hackett asks.

"I'll be out in a few," Hiccup replies, locating the red sweater professor McGonagall gifted him. He slips it on and decides that it's good enough for now. What does professor Hackett want with him? Harry and Danny thought it'd be a while before they could find the proper books describing ancient dragons - it's not a well-studied aspect of magic, with the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood barely sixty years old.

The professor utters a couple of syllables when Hiccup opens the door but he knows the signs of the translation spell wearing off by now. English sounds like a sing-song language now, its cadence falls in all the wrong places. He taps the side of his head and speaks Norse to her. "I'm going to need professor McGonagall's help," he says, and understanding dawns on professor Hackett's face. Hiccup silently wonders how old she is - she's got silver hair and wrinkles, but she moves with the gait of someone much younger. There's a spring in her step as she leads him towards the Great Hall and a certain cheer radiates off of her. When she opens the door of the Great Hall, a part of that cheer is explained to Hiccup.

The four elongated tables where the students usually sit is replaced by the table where staff sits, smack dab in the center of the room. Four enormous firs stand in the corners to make the Great Hall seem smaller, and they're decorated from top to bottom with baubles, stars and garland, making the branches sag under the weight of the decorations. The enchanted ceiling shows a soft drift of snow, and there are piles of the stuff smeared against the windows to resemble snowmen and more stars. The staff and seven students are gathered around the table, along with Harry, Clarence and Danny. They've changed their robes (and probably snuck in a nap themselves), wearing more formal clothing. A familiar shape shows itself in the corner of his eye. His dragon wears one of the shiny garlands loosely wrapped around his neck and it trails after him as he bounces forward to greet his rider. With the tables removed there's plenty of room for the dragon to move around.

Professor Hackett indicates for him to take the last available seat, between a Hufflepuff student and Harry.

"Thanks," Hiccup says, and without saying another word, McGonagall rises. She doesn't head for Hiccup right away, but she says a few words to the gathered people. Food suddenly appears on Hiccup's plate, startling him. Toothless utters a similar noise and jumps straight into the air, landing on all fours, making a few of the students and staff chuckle. Hiccup turns around and spots that his dragon has gotten his own manger, which now overflows with carefully prepared fish. Before he turns to his food he feels McGonagall's wand at his temple and she begins muttering the magic words which enable him to speak to these people. Conversation flows all around him and bit by bit he discerns the individual words from the stream of sound. He studies the food on his plate for a moment while McGonagall runs her wand across his scalp, making him shiver.

The feast has been prepared in advance, because instead of choosing what to eat tonight, there's potatoes and light meat on his plate, along with cranberries. A thick dollop of gravy has been added. He's not sure he'll be able to eat it all, there's so much of it. And there's even more dishes piled in the center of the table, which get passed around occasionally. McGonagall utters the last few chants of her spell and now he can understand them once more, requesting more gravy, the 'green bean casserole', slices of turkey. The white meat, he presumes, resembling fowl.

"Thank you," Hiccup says, addressing McGonagall, right before Harry presses this green bean casserole into his hands.

"You've _got_ to try this," he says, and at the same time the Hufflepuff student tries to pass him the gravy. If anything, he's going to leave Hogwarts a few pounds heavier than he was before.

And there's beer in his cup, the fine kind he can see through, doesn't smell like vinegar and with good amount of foam. Hackett gives him a surreptitious wink. "We bend the rules at Christmas," she says. "Careful," she adds in a low tone, "it might be more potent than you're used to." She herself has dark red liquid in a kind of glass Hiccup has't seen at Hogwarts before. It's got a slim stem before it expands into a broad cup, looking far more delicate than the cups the students use. The color of the liquid sparks a memory - his father, drinking the expensive mug of wine to celebrate a pact with another chief, when Hiccup should be in bed but the night was cold and the Great Hall so much warmer, to find a hidey-hole and curl up and let the murmur of familiar voices lull him to sleep.

"So, what's Christmas then?" Hiccup asks. This fancy meal is just the beginning of this holy day? He has an inkling about Christmas, he's overheard students talking about it, but it was more in the context of 'Christmas break' rather than 'lots of food and spirits'.

Both Harry and the Hufflepuff student, a second year boy with the curious name of Ezra, start to explain, talking over each other, adding details onto generics, clearly enthused about this particular day. If Hiccup were to explain the custom to his riders back home, he'd summarize it as 'Yule, but shorter'. There'd be another feast, presents, Charlie's and Harry's family, and presumably offerings to the gods.

Charlie cuts in when most of the explaining is done. "And I'd like to invite you to celebrate it at my parent's house tomorrow. They'd love to meet you. And Toothless."

Even Tuffnut would be able to detect the 'actually, I want to make my parents see why I love my job and I'm hoping that by introducing a housebroken dragon I'll get them to understand about the borderline inappropriate enthusiasm I have for flying, firebreathing reptiles'. Well, maybe not that deep. He'd think more along the lines of 'this guy wants something from me. What would Loki want me to do?' And Loki, if a mortal could understand the gods, would most likely think along the lines of - - Hiccup shakes himself from that line of thought, realizing that it's been too long since he answered the invitation.

"I'm... not sure," Hiccup says, swirling the beer around in his cup, frowning at it. "I want to check up on the dragons while I still can. Maybe the one at the shield wants something with them. He was way too interested in Toothless."

"Just for dinner, then," Charlie negotiates. "The entire day might get a bit .. Much."

"Nobody should be alone at Christmas," Harry adds, already nodding to get Hiccup to nod along as well.

Hiccup takes a swig from his cup while he mulls it over. If he and Toothless are around the flock, he's reasonably sure he can at least drive the dragon off if it wants to do them any harm. Then again, the dragon is at least a week of solid flying removed from the flock, but he's never heard of a dragon mastering magic either. If wizards can create portals through space, maybe this dragon can as well.

"I'll be with the dragons," Hiccup tries, but McGonagall looks at him over the edge of her glasses.

"It is not customary to turn down an invitation for Christmas dinner, Master Hiccup," she says.

The lone Viking whom befriended dragons instead of fighting them bites down on his snappy remark that he didn't follow custom and it'd worked out pretty well for him so far. He owes Charlie and Harry, and the mysterious dragon is a long way away. The flock is not defenseless - they are _dragons_. And it hadn't appeared hostile towards Toothless.

With all this pressure mounting, Hiccup swallows and inclines his head. "Just for dinner," he replies, and judging by the sparkle in Charlie's eyes, he's made the right call.

By the end of the night Hiccup has had plum pudding, a little too much to drink - the stuff is indeed potent - and he's developed a liking to turkey. He staggers a bit on his prosthetic foot and Toothless steadies him, grumbling a bit as Hiccup grabs at his ear flaps for balance.

"See you tomorrow," he says, reminding himself to drink some of the clear water before he hits the hay. If Christmas ever comes to Berk, he'll be sure to introduce turkey to Astrid, she'd love it. But for now, it's enough.

XXX

There's a skinny boy in Molly's kitchen and he desperately needs some food on his plate. He's not alone, though, there's a small black dragon following in his wake.

"Mom, dad, this is Hiccup Haddock the Third, I owled you about him," Charlie says by way of introduction. Molly has twenty-five things on her mind, coordinating a meal this large for this many people on Christmas day. But mashing the potatoes will have to wait, because she's heard about this young man in the letters from both her biological and her adopted son. They call him a dragon rider, a master of the mysterious languages of the dragons, and a Viking, displaced in time. She'd pictured a bulky male with a red beard and scars all over, carrying an ax. Instead she's receiving a scrawny man in his twenties with an intriguing creature behind him, who's not acting at all like a dragon should.

"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Weasley," the young man says, evidently under the effect of a translation spell - McGonagall's doing, no doubt. Molly takes his outstretched hand and shakes it, noticing the wiry strength in his hands. His hands are rough, and there _are_ a few scars on his face. "Thank you for having us on this holy day," he continues, indicating himself and the dragon. Charlie had described it as small, but not as 'cute'. No wonder her grand-daughter Rose wants to basically adopt one of the flock. There are some muddy footprints behind the dragon and Molly resists the urge to make a face. She's still not quite sure she wants to welcome a dangerous creature into her home, where there are vulnerable children, no matter how many times Charlie, Harry and Rose assure her that this particular dragon is harmless. He's even called Toothless.

"Nobody should be alone on Christmas," Molly replies. Something's bubbling over on the stove behind her but she's not ready to turn her back on the duo yet. "Charlie, could you show Mister Haddock the dining room?"

"Grandma," Rose interjects before Charlie can say a word, "everybody at Hogwarts calls him 'Master Hiccup'." In the next moment, she's dropped her knife and rushes over to aforementioned Master Hiccup. "Is Firglide doing okay?" she asks, her eyes shining with a fervor Molly has only seen in her when she got her letter from Hogwarts. "Because it's very cold outside and she's all the way over in the sanctuary and just, how's my girl?"

Meanwhile Toothless takes a few steps sideways, curious about the herbs hanging from the wall, but the skinny man only has to look over his shoulder and make a motion with his hand for the dragon to remain behind his rider. Hiccup chuckles and puts a hand on top of Rose's head. "Firglide is doing fine. She's used to this kind of weather - on Berk it can get a lot colder. There's a river nearby where she fishes and she's found a few other Nadders to sleep with in one big pile."

Rose is a bit appeased, but Hermione's stubborn traits shine through when she says: "still don't understand why you couldn't just stay at the castle."

"Young lady, those tomatoes aren't going to cut themselves," Molly finally comes in between the two of them, having tended to the bubbling pot. "If there's going to be any dinner at all, we need those tomatoes. Charlie, the dining room?"

"Right," Charlie says, motioning for Hiccup and Toothless to follow him. Molly can't help herself, she stares after the disappearing tail of the reptile. When she'd married Arthur, she never thought she'd end up having Christmas dinner with twenty-three people, including the 'chosen one' of the wizarding world, the future Minister of Magic, a time-traveling Viking and an actual dragon. Seeing the young man keep his dragon in line appeased her worries a little bit. He'll be on his best behavior, no doubt. No wonder Charlie hadn't owled her as often as he used to, getting caught up in this. It was his dream come true, and it seemed like something had changed in him. He'd loved working for the Planck Sanctuary, but just like Rose, there's something in his eyes that tells her that this black-skinned guest will change a few things in her hard-fought-for family.

"He's not what you'd expect when you say 'Viking'," she mentions to Rose, and for the next fifteen minutes the girl chops tomatoes like mad while regaling her grandmother of all the tales these Hiccup and Toothless had woven at Hogwarts.

XXX

She'd been in some of the wizarding world's most prestigious halls, where (often stolen) gold adorn the walls, where laws which are upheld to this day have been written. Her office itself is bigger than the entire dining room at the Burrow. Yet, it is one of the best places to be, especially on Christmas day. Ron has conjured up a few chairs, an especially comfy one for his father, and a whole lot of mismatched ones. She'd enlarged the table and contemplates expanding the room itself to host the many people it'll hold, but the Burrow has many spells interwoven through its walls, and an errant spell could make the fourth floor collapse into rubble. So Hermione settles for doubling the table in size, steadying it so it can hold all of the dishes. Molly had banned her from the kitchen, citing her hard work throughout the year to keep up with all of the politicking of the Ministry. There's a folder waiting for her on her bed already, deposited by one of her long-eared owls named Rafe. She'll have to retire him soon. It's one more thing added to her mental to-do list. Ron surprises her by sliding his hands across her chest from behind, kissing her on the crook of her neck.

"Stay in the here, love," he mutters, a phrase he uses to snap her out of her logical mindset. It doesn't always work, but it's Christmas, and she's at the Burrow. There's little she can do at the moment.

"Thanks," she replies, blindly cradling his cheek in her right hand. Her house-husband has learned to read her moods after many years of marriage, and right now she's thankful she's stuck with it. After graduating from Hogwarts she'd met many men more suited to her ambitious nature, but something in his loyalty, the ordeal they went through, his desire to keep her happy drew her back to him again and again until finally she said 'yes' to his proposal.

"Oh, uh, sorry," an unfamiliar voice says from the doorway. Hermione turns her head and catches a glimpse of brown. She sidles out of her husband's embrace and calls for the stranger to step into the room. She recognizes him from the description her daughter gave her. The brown is his leather suit, his hair, but the green eyes shine with a familiar intention - she spots it every morning in the mirror.

"So you're the reason my Rose wants to adopt a dragon," she accuses with mirth. "And why Ms. Callaghan has sent me twenty owls asking for advice. You've single-handedly sent _two_ departments into utter chaos."

"To be fair, I never expected to be here either," Hiccup Haddock the Third replies. "And I'd like to go back soon. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, I presume?" he asks, stepping fully inside the room. Harry pushes past him a second later, carrying the first of many dishes. Despite his adeptness with the Wingardium Leviosa spell, Molly has him carry it by hand, which must mean that she's stressed out.

"Hey guys," he says by way of greeting, placing the dish at a random part of the table. A black dragon head pops out of the doorway next, sniffing the air for the contents of the dish. Right, a dragon is joining them as well this Christmas.

"What does it eat?" Hermione asks, fingering her wand. Hopefully not cows or large creatures, because that won't even fit inside the dining room anymore.

" _He_ , and fish," Hiccup says. "Carp, tuna, flounders. No eels, though."

The black dragon scampers inside, clearly curious about the new humans, this house, everything and anything. He reminds Hermione of an overenthusiastic dog, wagging its tail and barking. Only this dragon is magnitudes more intelligent, because he waits for his rider to make the introductions, tapping his tail against the floor. Hiccup obliges and for the first time Hermione touches a dragon. His skin is dry and rough, but she's beginning to understand why her daughter is so smitten with these new dragons popping up all over Hogwarts, although this 'Toothless' is rumored to be one of a kind.

"Tell me about these Deadly Nadders," she asks, half demands, always curious about new things to learn. Too bad there's not a book of dragons she can peruse, but Hiccup is a willing teacher. Even when they're roped into setting the table he keeps on talking, telling her all about scale rot and their temper, their undying loyalty, their accuracy with deadly shots. He seems to forget he's talking to the mother of one of the Hogwarts students, but that makes his honesty refreshing. She's used to navigating people who want something from her, but this Viking is straightforward. If you respect dragons, they'll respect you. It shines through in his interactions with his own dragon, whom he keeps under control, even when the tastiest dishes appear on the table. More and more people show up, redheads and non-redheads alike, carrying trays, suitcases, owls, all of them talking at a loud volume, happy to be at the homestead, greeting each other. After thirty minutes of organized chaos, Molly finally sits down, depositing the last of the trays on the table. Hermione has subtly reinforced the legs of the old, poor thing, because it was beginning to creak.

Hiccup has ended up at the edge of the table where Toothless is squeezed into a corner. The dragon's pupils are huge, drinking in the sight of so much _food_. Hogwarts has feasts on par with the fine dining Hermione's getting used to, but there's a difference in being served a meal in the Great Hall as opposed to inside someone's dining room. Hermione nudges the fruit salad towards the Viking, so he at least has something recognizable to eat.

"Before we start enjoying this beautiful Christmas dinner Molly has prepared for all of us, let's take a moment to remember those who can no longer be at this table," Arthur announces. His once red hair is now completely gray and the lines on his face are deepening every year, but the strength of character which led him through two wars is still evident in his posture. It's a ritual the Weasleys started the year after the Second Wizarding War, when Fred's absence resonated throughout the entire house. After years the pain has diminished, especially when fresh new faces began showing up at the table, first in high chairs, then earning a seat of their own. Hermione seeks out Ron's hand underneath the table and gives it a soft squeeze. Her family of origin hadn't been harmed, although she still isn't sure her parents have forgiven her for sending them out to Australia.

"Thank you," Molly says, taking over the announcements. She points out the dishes available on the table, mostly for Hiccup's benefit, and every one at the table mumbles comments how delectable it all looks. And it _does_ look well-put together, Hermione agrees. She's never quite mastered the art of hosting, so she's glad that she can grab a chair here at the Burrow and not have to prepare a dinner of their own. Ron, having learned from the best, is infinitely better at these tasks.

"Thank you for having me," Hiccup says in reply to some comment after Molly is done talking. Hermione now sees that both Albus and Rose are on either side of him, with Charlie not far off. If this new dragon obsession is anything like Quidditch, Hermione's going to hear about it in the coming months to years.

"Not at all! Dig in, dig in!" Molly encourages, and it's like a Jobberknoll died. All of a sudden people pass plates, ask for items, help themselves to potatoes and turkey, cranberry sauce, turnips and other roasted veggies. Conversation flows as freely as the wine does and Molly's cooking (with a little help from Rose and the other grandchildren) is as tasty as ever. Hermione finds herself pulled into a conversation about the difference between wizard and Muggle radios with Arthur. With downgrading his job from full-time to part-time, he now has time to invest himself into his lifelong interest: Muggle technology. The Burrow has gained another shed in its expansive backyard, filled to the brim with rejects from the local junkyard.

After dessert comes tea and cookies, and Hermione feels sleep tugging at her eyelids, even though it's not even nine o'clock. But here, she can relax. In the corner of her eyes she spots some commotion and lazily she turns towards it. She becomes a bit more alert when it involves her two children. Hiccup refuses to let Hugo clear his plate and cup from the table. There's still a piece of choice meat on his plate, and his cup is full. Rose tries to insert herself into the argument and Hermione senses a row brewing between the siblings. Ron is too busy joking around with Ginny about her recent mishap during a title game to pay attention to his kids, so Hermione slowly gets up and makes her way over to the bickering pair.

"Spill," she commands, not really in the mood to play referee to a nonsensical fight.

"Mom, tell Rose that it's none of her business! Nonna told me to clear the table!" The nine year-old is adamant and linear in his thinking and reminds Hermione so much of her own black-and-white sense of justice when she began her first year at Hogwarts. Nonna told him to do it, therefore it must happen. Rose already possesses some gray thinking skills. Hiccup uses the distraction to grab hold of the piece of meat.

"And if Master Hiccup tells you to leave it, you _leave it_!" Rose defends her temporary hero.

"I have a better idea," Hermione interjects, and looks the young adult in his green eyes. Adult, she amends. He's as 'young' as they were when they emerged out the other side of a war. He's small, unassuming, but quick with his hands. He's already pocketed the meat. "Let's ask Master Hiccup why he wants to keep his plate and cup."

"I need to make a sacrifice to my gods," Hiccup replies. Hermione takes a moment too long to reply. Right. Yule had been a Germanic festival before it got annexed into Christmas. And this particular man still thinks that thunder and lightning is caused by Thor. Ancient Runes had covered a bit of history of those runes, but the one thing that Hermione remembers is that a lot of knowledge of those runes has been lost.

"Can I join you?" she asks without even thinking it through. Both of her children join in, chiming "I wanna come!" Hiccup smiles at them, but still guards his cup from the grabby hands of Hugo.

"Of course," he says, then pulls a face. "But it's best you leave your wands behind. Your magic might... Interfere. I don't know, I'm no volür. But I don't want Loki to show up, that'd be the crux on the biscuit."

Hermione hastily agrees and while Hugo is tasked with clearing the rest of the table ("not fair!") she and Rose head on outside, followed by the dark form of the dragon. Her hand continually strays to the holster she keeps her wand in, not used to it being empty. She has a strong urge to turn around and go get it, but her curiosity drives her forward, despite the cold seeping in. The crispy, frozen grass is a stark contrast from the hot dining room and her traveling cloak is not that successful in staving off the cold. It's meant for traveling short distances in the winter, not standing outside for long minutes in the backyard of the Burrow. Their absence has gone unnoticed for now. Hermione figures that Hiccup doesn't want an audience while he honors his gods. Rose is quiet in her awe, watching the time traveler bury the meat at the trunk of one of the few fir trees at the back of the yard.

He closes his eyes, focuses and overcomes the translation spell by sounding out the words slowly, enunciating each letter. The Norse sounds rough to Hermione's ears but there's a rhythm to it, like Hiccup recites a poem. It takes a while, and there's nothing but cold and wind in the yard. Behind them lies the glow of the Burrow, illuminating the scene before them. The dragon sits on its, his, haunches, ear-flaps pricked forward in interest. The reptile radiates the heat he stole from inside and Hermione shuffles a bit closer to the welcome source. The tips of her ears and her nose are getting numb. But there's something ... ethereal about the scene. She tries to recognize words in the poem, but it's hard, especially with Hiccup sing-songing half of it. Any minute now she expects more Vikings to show up behind the trees, getting ready to slaughter a cow and offer it to the gods. But there's just this slight man, heaping earth over the buried piece of meat. After a minute, Hiccup is done. He touches the bark of the tree with his fingertips and beckons for the two to come closer. He holds out the cup for Hermione to grab.

"I don't think Freya would be happy if a man did this part of the ritual," Hiccup says. Hermione accepts the cup but stares at the guy.

"What do I do with it?" she asks, mind racing over what little she knows of the Norse pantheon. There's Odin and Thor and Yggdrasil, she knows of Loki and the eight-legged horse, but even though Friday is named after this particular goddess, she doesn't know what rituals come with that territory. Hiccup takes a moment, organizing his thoughts.

"To be honest, I don't know." He gives a small chuckle, mostly aimed at himself. "I was never invited for this blessing, but I imagine they ask for a good crop and a good year in good health."

"Didn't you say you are the chief of Berk? Shouldn't you know about these blessings?" Hermione challenges. Hiccup bristles a bit and strangely enough the ear-flaps on the dragon swivel backwards. Toothless reads Hiccup like a book and has his back under any circumstance, it seems like.

"I am, but seidr is the realm of women," Hiccup replies evenly. There's no accusation, no disparaging tone, to Hermione's surprise.

"Mom, just pour one out please, I'm getting cold," Rose says. Her child is right, the night is frigid and although her cheeks burn slightly with the rush of alcohol, the hairs on the back of her neck and on her arms have transformed into goosebumps halfway through this conversation. Hermione takes the last few steps towards the fir tree and thinks of what to say. She's never actually prayed before, she's always been too caught up in magic and logic to plea to whatever deity someone told her to believe in. She focuses on the task ahead and momentarily forgets the numbness of her nose, she ignores the chattering of voices of her family. The bark of the tree has patches of moss growing on it, but there are no insects scurrying about. They've holed up for the night, it seems. It's as if the world comes to a halt for a moment as she breathes, raking her brain. She's wandless, powerless really, in front of this makeshift altar and the absence of her wand affects her more than she realizes. Maybe this is seidr in the Viking's world, the power to turn a random tree into a place where witches pray.

"Mom?" Rose asks and Hermione realizes that she's yet to speak.

"Dear Freya," she begins, as if she's dictating a letter for her assistant. She tries to recall the sermons she witnessed when some Muggle friends got married in church. "We ask you to bless this coming year." She pours out some of the beer, making it land on top of the meat. Is that sacrilege, tainting the sacrifice to Odin? She has no idea. "Blessed be the fruit and the harvest. And the fruit of the harvest" She chances a glance at Hiccup to see if he's storming forwards yet to stop her, but he has his back turned to the two of them. So he's serious about not wanting to know about this part of the ritual, even though Hermione makes it up as she goes along, scraping together whatever liturgy she's heard over the course of her life.

"Please let Hiccup and Toothless and the other dragons get home in good health," Rose adds in a soft voice. Her daughter joins her at the tree. Hermione hands her the cup, because it seems important to include her in this butchered ritual. If women control the magic in the Viking's world, a girl on the cusp of puberty counts as a worthwhile member.

"Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie," Hermione adds, gesturing for her daughter to pour forth some more. She remembers the words because she has an ear for Latin while watching the deacon give the general sermon before letting her friends take their vows. And isn't Freya the goddess of fertility, or is that someone else?

"And please make my family see that dragons are cool creatures. Aside from, y'know, uncle Charlie, because he already knows." Rose looks askance up at Hermione, but Hermione can't find it in herself to scold her child for this selfish prayer. Who's to say that 'give us our daily bread' is not just as selfish?

"Amen," Hermione concludes, and gestures for Rose to pour out the last of it.

"Amen," Rose echoes.

It's a far cry from the poetic Edda Hiccup recited, but they did their best. The Viking seems to agree, because he takes the cup from Rose without further comment, apart from a "thank you."

The night once more feels cold and the sound of an overcrowded house rushes in the moment she steps back from the tree. Is this enough for Freya? She's read that in the past sacrifices were entire feasts, where multiple cows got slaughtered, where mead flowed like a waterfall.

The dragon interrupts her thoughts. He was in her peripheral vision but the moment he stretches his wings wide he catches her attention. He's spent the entire evening inside, and Hermione was already cramped, let alone a creature that size. He seems to understand that the ceremony is over because he leaps forward and nudges his head underneath Hiccup's palm. Toothless has not gone without attention this evening, but right now he's a cuddlemonster. Hiccup responds enthusiastically, rubbing the dragon on his head with his knuckles. Toothless rumbles a request and glances up at the night sky.

"I don't know, Toothless," Hiccup replies before turning to Hermione.

"Could we go for a quick flight?" he asks. So he's been inundated with the Statue of Secrecy by now, or at the least aware of it. The amount of emergency owls from the Department of Control of Creatures _has_ gone down these past few weeks.

"There's a Quidditch field just over the hill. As long as you don't go higher than the trees it'll be okay," Hermione replies. Not that the Night Fury is that visible against the stars. His hide is the perfect motley of black and gray to disappear against the brush, even with the light from the Burrow illuminating parts of the yard. It most likely is a nocturnal dragon in the wild. But as the future Prime Minister she can't tell a time traveling fugitive that he can fly about freely. Well, Hiccup is no longer a fugitive, nor a prisoner. So... Asylum seeker? Refugee, Hermione decides. Whatever his role, right now he wants to fly.

"I'll show you!" Rose offers and off she goes before Hermione can call her back and remind her to wear a jacket. The warmth of the Burrow beckons, but the same way her curiosity drove her to follow the guy out to the fir tree now drives her towards the Quidditch field. For a moment she contemplates going back for her wand, but that'll bring out more interested parties, and after a hectic night it's nice to find a moment of peace. She doesn't get that often these days.

Through the increasing dark path she follows her daughter, the dragon and the Viking up the hill until moonlight shines over the six hoops they've put in for Ginny to practice her moves when she lived at home. They're not longer well-maintained but they're still upright. The pupils of the dragon are huge by the time they've made it to the pitch and he squirms with his whole body, practically begging for Hiccup to get into the saddle already. But first, Rose has a request. With a timid voice, laced with hope but all too understanding if he says 'no', she asks "could I ride with you, Master Hiccup?"

Hermione might not believe in Norse gods, she does believe that there are days, moments even, that shape an entire life. Hers came when she encountered the troll in the dungeon, the moment when she hexed her parents. The troll had been circumstance, but the weight of the wand in her hand had never been heavier when she stood in the doorway, her parent's backs to her while they watched the news and spoke in hushed tones about the new slew of disappearances.

"That'd be a boss time," Hiccup replies, but then remembers that the parent's here. "If your mother is alright with it."

The creature has teeth that can punch clear through her daughter's wrist. It breathes fire hot enough to melt its cage and can overpower an Unspeakable within seconds, according to the reports from its escape from the Ministry. Her maternal instinct yells a clear 'no', this is too dangerous, both of them are wandless and they can't rely on wild magic to break the fall should Rose slip from the saddle. But maybe this is a defining moment in Rose's life, and when Hermione was eleven she took down the defenses around the Philosopher's stone. She's hardly one to tell her daughter 'it's too dangerous'.

"Be careful," slips out, but she nods her assent nonetheless.

Hermione tries to sear the look her daughter gives her into her memory so the coming teenage years won't be as hard on her patience. Rose leaps forward and Hiccup helps her into the saddle, pointing out the handholds made for the tag-along. The trees around the clearing are high, higher than they should grow in the wild. Just like the structural integrity of the Burrow they've been 'helped along' by a generation of Weasleys desperate to play Quidditch on their grounds. The moment the dragon stretches out his wings Hermione knows they're not high enough. Her hair is blown backwards by the first flap and she only spots the glee on Rose's face before the night sky swallows them up. True to his word Hiccup doesn't allow Toothless to go higher than the circle of obscuring trees. They skim along the top of it, turning in tight circles. They dip and curve and slalom between them, which leaves Hermione to watch and feel the cold of night creep into her clothes like a Lethifold creeping onto its slumbering victim. The description of the dragon does not do him justice. The Aurors and Unmentionables involved in the chase across London had reported the dragon to be nimble and fast, but he moves like Harry at the top of his Seeker game. And, he can think for himself. Hiccup does not so much as steer, he suggests more and leaves a lot up to the dragon to decide.

Toothless makes a few false landings, hopping onto the ground before he jumps up again and every time Hermione starts forwards but then falls back between the trees. The Night Fury crows with joy and Hermione hopes that that sound doesn't echo down to the village in this empty night. Snow damps a lot though, but she would feel a lot better if she could cast a few Muggle-repelling spells around the pitch. As it is she's helpless and it's been a long, long while since she last felt like this. Any passing Muggle can see them as they bank left, right, wingtips brushing past a tree hard enough to dislodge the snow. Her anxiety grows by the minute and right when she's about to call them down they land for real.

Rose, oh, her dear Rose. Hermione's lost her to this dragon fever, she's sure of it now. Her cheeks are red, along with the tip of her nose and her hands as she stiffly lifts herself from the saddle and slides down the dragon's back.

Words are not enough to express her thanks so she goes for the hug, first the familiar form of human, then a bit more hesitantly, she puts her arms around the dragon's neck. If it wanted to kill her, now would be the perfect time. But he licks her instead.

"Ew," she says, rubbing at her wet cheek, but Toothless is not remorseful at all, like a dog would be.

"I know, right?" Hiccup says. His face is not as red but he's most affected by the unbridled enthusiasm of his passenger. There's a goofy grin on his face and he's so much unlike any Viking Hermione's read about in the history books.

"Mom, did you _see_ me?" Rose recounts every fell and swoop as they walk back to the Burrow. Hiccup lets Toothless investigate interesting patches of snow and their tempo is not as high as could be but now that they're moving again, heating up their bodies, Hermione doesn't mind as much. Her Rose is a child with many interests, but not that many hobbies. It'll be good for her to learn to take care of a pet, take responsibility for her choices. But why did it have to be _dragons_.

XXX

The stupid rusty can shows up again and Toothless bares his teeth at it. From the moment they rolled into this world it's like these stick-wielders are trying their hardest to piss off the Night Fury. And now for the second time this night they want him to touch the can so they can be whisked away again. Humans lack certain things dragons do have. The wings and thick skin are a given, but their ability to navigate relies on parchment with scribbles on it. Hiccup can draw coastlines pretty accurately, but then he adds all these wiggles to his drawings. It's like he tries to condense so much information about the world into these little squiggles that they have nowhere to go so they end up on top of each other. Toothless has been told that this is 'writing' and Hiccup can sound out these squiggles. But that doesn't mean that he's as good at navigating as Toothless is.

Humans don't always know which way is north, and Toothless does. But every time he touches the can he forgets and has to find other cues to see where he is and where that is in relation to the ocean. It makes his head hurt, and after getting thrown into this hot, cramped room with unfamiliar humans and food he isn't allowed to touch he wants to stay normal until the sun rises.

"C'mon, it's just back to the Sanctuary," Hiccup pleads as Toothless bounces out of his reach. "You won't have to follow me to Hogwarts after."

Toothless wants to stretch his wings and go for a long flight. The few minutes between the trees were enough to whet his appetite, not satiate it. Hiccup's told him to stay in line a dozen times tonight and Toothless has grown tired of being scolded for now. So he stays just out of reach of Hiccup's lunges. The Viking is predictable in his movements and Toothless knows this dance.

The rider can suffer the stomach-churning feeling of being hooked underneath his belly and thrown through a vortex of misery before getting dumped upside down on a hill somewhere in the world. Toothless is going straight to Hogwarts, if that's where Hiccup will eventually wind up.

"You can't stay the night, everybody's leaving!" Hiccup tries to reason. Toothless sticks out his tongue at him and flaps his wings for emphasis. "And we can't fly over there either. I think they'll shoot us down when we try to do that."

Harry and Charlie are standing close to each other, their traveling cloaks swaying in the soft breeze which carries a few flocks of snow with it. Toothless rears back and jumps over his rider, landing on the bank of a small creek. It's frozen over, but when Hiccup steps on the ice to chase his dragon his foot breaks through and he sinks ankle-deep into the liquid so frigid that it's instant pain. He yelps, pulls back, loses the footing of his peg-leg on the slippery bank and falls hard on his ass.

"That's it! Toothless, get down here _now_ ," he commands, no longer slightly amused by their dragon-and-sheep tag game. But Toothless scrambles up the bank, because while the tone is getting serious, he _really_ doesn't want to make two trips through that horrendous method. Dragon and rider lock gazes on opposite sides of the creek while Hiccup gets to his feet. Neither of them move for a solid minute, because that means defeat. Harry and Charlie call out to Hiccup and Toothless but both of them are in favor of ignoring the two wizards.

"I'm giving you three choices, Toothless," Hiccup finally says in a cool and collected tone. "And those are the only three you'll get, there is no fourth choice. Got that?"

Toothless warbles his understanding, sitting down on his haunches. The ground is c _old_ under his skin and he wants to sneak back inside the big hut, into the dining room so he can soak up the lingering heat. It's bound to be emptier right now.

"Move over there if you want to come with me to the Sanctuary, stay the night while I'm headed for Hogwarts. Move over there if you want to go to Hogwarts, and I'll join you later tonight after I've made sure that the new dragon hasn't captured all of the flock. Stay right there if you want to remain in this frozen field and I'll come get you in the morning."

Toothless waffles for a few seconds. The third thing Hiccup said is not appealing at all. If he goes to Hogwarts, there is only one trip with the can he has to take, and he misses the attention of the large man. So he trots over to the part of the bank Hiccup indicated for the second thing he said and plonks his butt down to indicate his decision.

"Thought so. C'mon, the others are waiting."

Hiccup turns his back to the Night Fury and Toothless pounces, landing inches from Hiccup's heels. This does not have the intended scaring effect, but only makes the human look back over his shoulder. "Good," he only says. Sometimes Toothless misses the days when the mere sound of his wings in the dark of night made the little two-legged creatures scramble for cover. Life turned out to be a lot better when he started working together with a human, but there's a certain amount of respect for his presence in the fear they showed him.

At least the large man will be happy to see him and shower him with pettings and fishes. And perhaps a new sweater.

Hagrid is doting on Toothless again so Hiccup wanders the hallways of the castle. The grounds are covered in five inches of snow and there's a steady draft inside despite the numerous fireplaces attempting to warm the place up. But the ceiling's too high to keep hold of the heat and there are no rugs on the ground to keep the feet warm. The castle looks magnificent but Hiccup's hut is so much more practical - built to withstand the cold. The students wrap scarfs around their necks and hurry in the corridors. Some greet him, say 'Happy New Year' and ask whether he's found a way home yet. Hiccup keeps his answers brief because the students have places to be but it's nice to be acknowledged.

Finally he wanders into the library and tries to walk as silently as possible. The only welcome he gets from Madam Pince is a glare as his metal foot clangs on the floor. He hurries over to where Danny is hiding behind a stack of books as high as he is tall in the forbidden section of the library. Harry is a table over, rifling through a pile of his own. They've been at it for nine days, pulling books from shelves, writing owls to any and every dragon expert in the world, cross-referencing what few notes they can find. Hiccup automatically skims the tomes Danny's selected. Back home this many books would be worth at least two prime yaks, but they're surrounded by such a plethora of books Hiccup wonders who even has the time to read them all in this fast-paced world. His eyes skip over the titles, both familiar and unfamiliair characters jumping out at him. Until he reaches the bottom of the pile. _Dragons of the North_ and _Enûma Elish_ , the two books are titled - and they're in runes he can read. There are _books_ in this library that he can _read_! His Inner Fishlegs - or maybe just his voracious need to learn - crows at this revelation. The urge to grab them and topple the pile over is overwhelming and Hiccup takes a seat next to Danny. Out of politeness sake he focuses on the guy.

"Found anything yet?" he asks in a whisper. The notebook of the Unspeakable is covered in scribbles, covering up the drawing Hiccup had made of the unknown reptile.

"I think so," Danny replies. "Because I've eliminated all other possibilities. And, like Sherlock Holmes says..." he trails off and Hiccup realizes it's a 'pop culture reference', a thing which is now so embedded in this society that they have distinctions between 'popular' culture and whatever the opposite of 'popular culture' is. Nobody has been able to explain the concept in a way that Hiccup understands so he writes it off as the result of having been displaced a thousand years and presses on whenever one of these references happen.

"Sherlock Holmes says what?"

"Once you've eliminated all the other possibilities, whatever remains, must be true."

"So what is the truth?"

Danny wriggles a book from in between the pile, flips to a page and pushes it towards Hiccup. "It's an Omega dragon."

The drawing on the page vaguely resembles the real life version of the dragon. The picture has lot more horns, it breathes red fire and it has six wings instead of four. There are circles with Arabic numbers drawn behind it and a multicolored vortex. One of the few resemblances Hiccup finds is its black hide. It doesn't have whiskers and its claws weren't that long or thick. The claws the picture dragon sports can pierce an Armorwing while the real life dragon seemed more like a yak hunter to Hiccup.

"It's the source of our Time Turners - or rather, when we used to have Time Turners." Harry whispers a "sorry" from the table over for some reason. "Because this dragon controls time. It was reported as extinct as far back as 1378. There are some inconclusive reports of a black dragon in 1456 and 1835 but that could've also been a rogue Hungarian Horntail. Nobody's been able to get close to it since, or it hasn't shown itself."

"But Time Turners are a much more recent invention," Harry interjects, pushing his chair closer to Danny's table so he doesn't have to raise his voice.

"Shows what you know."

Harry chews on those words for a few seconds while Hiccup idly traces the drawing's edges with his fingertips, following the vortex around and around. "And you think-"

"I think it's the one stopping us from getting you home," Danny sums up. "We _need_ to get to it, capture it somehow. Maybe lure it out of the shield a second time and stand ready with a lot more wizards. I think that's the only way to get you back to your time."

"You really think that dragon was Ouroboros?" Harry asks, pulling his chair up to the table proper. "Did you look at Croaker's essay? About fixed points preventing time travel?"

"I _did_ ," Danny replies curtly. "But that doesn't apply here. There are only a few forces powerful enough to create those cracks the dragons been coming through _and_ put up a blanket ban on reversing the flow. And the most likely one is _this_." He gestures towards the horrible drawing.

Hiccup's still tracing the vortex, round and round. There's always a counterweight in the anatomy of a dragon. The dragon in the drawing is wrong, the mass of its body won't be held aloft by its wings. A Gronckle's tail to offset its bulk is a counterweight, the whip-like fins of a Night Fury against its huge wings. Dragons are balanced, as all things are. "If there's an Alpha, there has to be an Omega," Hiccup mutters more to himself than to Danny.

"But there is no Alpha," Danny protests, still in his hackles-up mode. Hiccup doesn't look up.

"Is there?" Harry asks, a sharp note in his voice. "Hiccup?"

The small Viking lies when the situation calls for it. He's had to deceive powerful men in order to keep his island safe. But this time he allows the truth the leak out. Now that it's 'just' dragon magic and not human magic that's keeping him tethered to this place, this time, he comes clean.

"We went up against a rogue Alpha once," Hiccup says, tracing the ridiculously large claws of the Omega dragon. "He was being controlled by a man with whips and chains." He looks up, straight into Harry's eyes. "Drago Bludvist, his name was." It feels important to name the man, even if he's but a memory. His name might be in one of the books on the bottom of the pile whose titles he can read. "Alphas control other dragons, and he used that to gather a dragon army. As long as he controlled the Alpha, he had power."

"He got a hold of Toothless," Hiccup says and can't help the bitterness in his voice. "Drago took him away and we had to chase him on baby dragons because those can't be controlled by Alphas. _We_ could barely control them, actually. We confronted him and Toothless managed to break free from the Alpha's power."

"But-" Danny begins before getting cut off by a sharp gesture of Harry. The Auror motions for Hiccup to continue.

"Toothless began to att- ack!"

A tremor runs through the floor, strong enough to make Hiccup wobble on his feet. The hundred thousand books in the library make a noise like scraping across noisy leaves in an autumn forest and a few books begin to wail. Hiccup steadies himself with one hand on the table and looks around for the source of the tremor.

The students present in the library start asking loud questions even while Madam Pince tries to shush them. She hurries across the marble floor, pushing books back into their proper places and a few of the wails peter out.

"What in the-" Danny says but falls silent when a shadow blots out the sun shining through the patterned windows. "Oh please don't be," he ends his sentence instead. The shadow roars at a deep frequency which sets Hiccup's teeth on edge and makes his bones ache. The windows rattle in their panes in a rhythmic fashion - one beat of the wings, two beats of the wings.

Hiccup's immediate thought is _where's Toothless_ followed by _what kind of power makes a castle shake like that?_ However, he already knows the answer to the second question. The shadow is too large, too full of movement to be anything but the creature whose drawing he's been tracing. It's always nine in the tales of legend, isn't it? Nine lindworms, Hermod rode Sleipnir for nine nights, and it's taken nine days for this Omega dragon to locate the school.

They'd told him that Hogwarts is protected by strong magic. It was the epicenter of a fierce battle and a powerful dark wizard had been brought down in the hallway where students now sit and do their homework. It has withstood storms, troll attacks, floods and even a tornado. Now it's time to find out how well it will hold up against a dragon attack.

"Get the students to safety!" Harry and Hiccup bark at the same time. Madam Pince stops straightening the books and sorts out her priorities instead. She rights her spine, lifts her chin and sends sparks up from her wand.

"Students, follow me!" she announces in the same level tone she uses to announce that the library's closing. There are some students at the windows gaping at the creature outside. Madam Pince stalks up to them and snaps: "Follow. Me!"

The students are used to obeying that tone, so they tear themselves away from the window - maybe because they fear Madam Pince more than they do the dragon outside.

"It's not attacking," Harry observes. He walks up to the nearest window and points his wand at it. It flies open and Hiccup gets his second look at the Omega dragon which is keeping his home hidden away. It's hovering above the grounds right in front of the castle. Students who'd been at the lake and the greenhouses scatter from underneath the dragon, some of them screaming in fright, but most of them run like it's the only thing that'll save them.

Hiccup bellows out across the grounds. "Toothless!" The answering roar is close by and the Night Fury bounds into view. He's ignoring the Omega dragon even if the Omega dragon follows Toothless' path. It's not gathering any flames yet.

The library is one floor up. Hiccup climbs onto the windowsill and shrugs off Harry's hands which grab onto his shoulder. "Grab whatever you can that can fly and let's go!"

He doesn't hesitate - he trusts Toothless. The moment he jumps down Toothless leaps into the air and Hiccup lands on the saddle. A bit less graceful than usual but he busies himself by clicking his foot into position and ignores his sore groin. _Maybe_ he should've let one of the wizards lower him down to the ground before he attempted to vault from a window. He blinks away the tears in his eyes and clicks the fin into place.

"Alright, Toothless, let's make sure he doesn't attack any students."

The Omega dragon roars as the Night Fury takes to the sky. It does a somersault and chirps. That's usually a good sign but every species is different so maybe in this ones it means an imminent attack or a display of power.

"Hi there!" Hiccup shouts from a safe distance, waving at the Omega dragon. "So you found the castle, huh?" The dragon gives no reply. "That's impressive, but there are a lot of frightened people here, and they have magic sticks. So follow me before they decide that you're a threat, okay?"

It's a bit late for that last part, the three of them find out. Several things happen at once and Hiccup isn't happy with any of them.

A white shield crawls across the sky, originating from the highest tower of Hogwarts. It drips down like wet paint but it most likely will be impenetrable from both sides. Second, the doors of the main entrance fly open and the suits of armor march out, spears and maces and swords held at the ready.

Behind the humanless suits - what kind of magic is that? Possession? - the teachers of Hogwarts step into the light, headed by the headmistress. The usher the last of the students inside before turning towards the dragon with grim faces.

"Please don't attack, they'll bring you down," Hiccup pleads. "Show me what you want from us, what you're doing here."

The first spell flies before the Omega dragon can reply. The red jet of light ends up in useless sparks against its hide and the dragon roars, turning away from Hiccup and Toothless. It swoops down low, its claws inches from the grass. It gathers up a yellow glow in the back of its throat and - disappears from view. Several teachers throw up a shield, overlapping each other so they're hidden beneath an opaque dome. It's a good thing they do, because the Omega appears above them and spits fire over the shield. It's not a solid flame, but more like a Gronckle's lava.

"Spread out!" Hiccup yells. From his vantage point it's easy to see how the dragon will attack. The teachers are huddled together and can only protect themselves, they can't attack. If every one of those teachers calls up a shield, they can defend themselves long enough to capture the dragon.

"We need to capture it alive!" he yells out next. If they kill it - and he can't bear thinking about this, but it's a reality - then he's stuck. A curse placed on a Viking doesn't end with the death of the caster. _How_ they're going to capture it is more of a question mark at the moment. They don't have nets or bolas or any of the usual tools the dragon riders of Berk use to relocate unruly dragons.

Underneath him the Omega dragon spews fire over the cumulative shield, passing over them six, seven times before it somehow winks out of existence. Seven-shot limit, then. That's a good thing to know.

The teachers scatter, running across the lawn, making themselves a smaller target than before. They don't move like a team does but Hiccup hears McGonagall pass out commands like she's been in a war before.

"Secure the perimeter!" she says in a magically amplified voice. "Place the suits of armor in a diamond formation. Hackett, aim for the eyes. Longbottom, _Sectumsemptra_ worked on Toothless, try it on the wings."

She doles out commands to every teacher in the vicinity and from Hiccup's altitude it looks like an ant's hill that's been opened up, with ants scurrying everywhere, each of them occupied with its own task. The Omega dragon reappears in the distance, well beyond the shield surrounding Hogwarts. Toothless growls and Hiccup puts his hand on top of Toothless' head.

"Not yet," he says. "Maybe we can lead it away. Try to get its attention."

He remembers the chirp the Omega dragon gave. He doesn't want to see it grounded, its wings shredded, as helpless as any dragon in a Hunter's hold. It came here for a reason, and he's going to find it.

Toothless roars as loud as he's able and sets off, throwing errant plasma blasts into the sky. He stays below his shot limit but the purple balls of intense heat draw a path that's visible even in the bright afternoon sun. Hiccup steers Toothless over the Forbidden Forest, crossing a ways in front of the Omega dragon who's circling the castle. They dive below the shield which still drips down at a slow rate. The Omega dragon stays out of reach of the teachers for now but Hiccup hears an unhappy grumble starting up in its belly.

"C'mon, follow me!" he shouts, punctuated by another roar from Toothless. The Omega dragon's purple eyes track the Night Fury for a moment and it swings around, cruising behind Toothless. The moment is broken when Harry and Danny show up from down below. Harry's Firebolt is fast and he's in front of the Omega dragon in a flash.

Any other time, Hiccup would've called him brave. Right now, he's being stupid. "No!" Hiccup yells but it's too late.

"Stupefy!" Harry bellows and a red streak hits the Omega right in the purple eye. It roars and spews molten fire, making Danny barrel-roll out of the way as it drips down onto him.

Hiccup looks down below and sees that the teachers of Hogwarts have taken his advice of 'take whatever can fly' literally. He spots a few brooms, but also a winged horse, a carpet and… a vehicle Albus called a 'motorcycle'. Hagrid perches on the latter and steers it like it's quite normal for something that big to fly without wings.

There's nothing for it, now. The teachers are determined to defend their castle and the Omega dragon won't stop its destruction, not now Harry angered it beyond reason. Maybe later, Hiccup can talk to it. But right now he's got a thousand innocent lives hiding out in the dungeons until this dragon is either grounded or driven off.

"Change of plans, Toothless," Hiccup announces. He turns his dragon around and waits in place until the teachers are at his altitude. Not all of the teachers have taken to the sky, there are still those busy with the shields and moving suits of armor. The headmistress is among those on the ground, along with Longbottom.

"Suggestions, Hiccup?" Hackett asks. She's on a regular broom, her voice steady. Hiccup notices she's left-handed.

On their own, dragon and dragon rider are a formidable pair. They've taken on opponents much larger, smarter and older than themselves, and come out on top. A Night Fury alone rules a large territory simply because it's so fast and its fire is so accurate. Its intelligence also plays a large role, because it plans things to a certain degree.

But both rider and Night Fury are at their best when they're in a group, where large dragons and buff riders compensate for their smaller sizes and where there's always a second pair of eyes to spot weaknesses in foes. It leaves them free to do what they're good at - lead.

"Draw its fire, you, you and you." Hiccup points at Harry, Danny and the green-haired witch who refereed the Quidditch match. "It's got a seven-shot limit, after that it retreats and recharges. That's when to hit it." He looks at Hackett, who, as the Charms professor, should have the widest range of spells. "Eyes, snout and belly are weak spots. The red light worked on Toothless before. _Don't_ shred its wings. Pick three partners and combine firepower."

There are six teachers left. Hiccup points at Hagrid. "Can that produce smoke?" he asks. He's seen small puffs of smoke coming from the carts back in London. Hagrid pats the rumbling motorcycle.

"Course it can," he says, his voice at the same timbre as the engine.

"Obscure the castle, make a few smoke banks to hide behind in case it attacks."

Five left. The Omega dragon soars above, touches the still-forming shield and it shatters. Wild magic crackles every direction, white bolts zigzagging across the blue sky for a few seconds before the light show quits and the grounds are undefended. Hiccup amends his plans somewhat. "Three more on the attack, join Hackett. The horse, what can it do?"

It has to be some kind of magical creature because the only time Hiccup had seen a horse that skeletal, it'd starved to death. That had been the last horse on Berk and since then they used yaks, which were much better suited for the unforgiving winters.

"It can fly," the teacher in the front says, a tad unnecessarily. This teacher is young, probably graduated a few years ago, and already back. Hiccup strains his brain trying to think of what the lad, who's younger than Hiccup himself is, teaches at the school.

"What else?"

"Err," the lad replies. The Omega dragon roars up above as red lights swing through the sky and hit it. But it isn't enough, the dragon keeps chasing after Harry and the others. It snarls when Harry dives down faster than the Omega dragon turns. So the dragon spews his lava over the castle, setting a part of the Transfiguration courtyard aflame. It disappears from view once more, just when a jet of red light should've hit it in the vulnerable stomach.

"Go join the attacking force!" Hiccup commands. "We'll run interference, distract it so it stays still long enough to hit."

Toothless spins out of the way as the Omega dragon bears down upon them from above and Hiccup is glad for the line keeping him tethered to the saddle because that, along with his metal foot, keeps him from taking a nice trip downstairs.

"Whoa!" he says, followed by "good job, bud."

He scrambles back into the saddle and his heart speeds up even more as the Omega dragon stretches its wings to keep it from hurtling into the ground. It touches down before springing back up, purple eyes focused on Hackett. It opens its mouth to spit lava, Hackett is too damn close to it.

"Oh no you don't," Hiccup says. Toothless snarls and they take off, wings angled to produce the frightening high-pitched sound only a Night Fury generates. They fly in front of its snout and Toothless throws a well-aimed plasma blast at its cheek before they disappear into the smoke Hagrid is busy producing all around them. The dragon snaps its jaws shut and lava flies everywhere, cooling down into rhyolite on the way down. The Omega dragon is hard to miss - a solid black shape against the backdrop of either clear sky or white snow - but for the dragon it's much harder to make out fast-moving wizards and witches and dragon rider and… horse-ish creature among the smoke.

Harry, Danny and Hiccup work in tandem to draw its fire while Hackett has the others move into position. Hiccup yells "eye!" when it's more advantageous to hit it there and a volley lands roughly around that area. He repeats that whenever he sees an opportunity. When the dragon attempts to give chase, they turn it around over the castle through solid, persistent diversion and aim a fresh volley of spells at its weak points.

"Hawkshead formation!" Hiccup shouts. He's going to be hoarse after this, but for now they can still hear him. Danny and Harry join them at his flank and the green-haired witch becomes their heavy hitter, hiding behind the formation. Hiccup doesn't need to tell his companions to scatter at the right time, they _know_. The witch summons a stream of water from her wand and hits it in its open mouth. Toothless winces in sympathy as the Omega dragon coughs up chunks of volcanic rock and superheated steam while it retreats some distance. But it doesn't give up yet, damaging the castle and its grounds with every pass, igniting fires wherever the lava lands. The ground is sodden with snow but bushes and trees love to burst into flame. The teachers on the ground have their work cut out for them, keeping their shield spells up like it's an umbrella. The castle itself doesn't seem to take that much damage, not as much as it should. Magical, fire-proof stone. Hiccup wants to know the exact location of _that_ quarry.

The problem with the Omega, Hiccup finds out after a few misses, is that it can literally _disappear_. For seconds at most, but that's enough for it to turn around mid-air and make a valiant attempt to gobble up one of Hogwarts' teachers. It doesn't always follow the trajectory it should be following and a few times the teachers escape by the twigs on their brooms. Hiccup himself has to steer around falling lava and three times only Toothless' amazing reaction times saves him from a fiery death. The Night Fury rolls out of the way, stops at a dime whenever he senses something Hiccup can't.

The Omega isn't invisible, as Toothless passes through where it should be a moment after it's disappeared. It simply isn't part of this world anymore, for a short time. This is a new one to jot down in the book of dragons, and he's never seen such a thick hide on a dragon before either. Hackett and the others throw red jets, blue jets, purple and orange and every color but green at the creature but it simply doesn't slow down, nor does it topple to the ground. It keeps on plugging on.

"We need some caves to trap it in," Hiccup says, "or a glacier."

His words fall on deaf ears as the Omega dragon snaps its teeth around Hagrid's rear wheel. The giant man roars and, contrary to the other teachers of Hogwarts, doesn't use magic to free himself. He lifts his knee and stomps down as hard as he can, trapping one of its whiskers against the wheel. He grinds his boot down and the Omega dragon squeaks. It lets go and disappears, leaving Hagrid to scurry out of the way and inspect the damage.

Hiccup and Toothless swerve and dive along with the Firebolt. The broom that Harry steers has quicker acceleration than the Night Fury does but the dragon is much more accurate with its shots.

Hiccup knows a doomed fight when he sees one - although if he were the Omega dragon, he wouldn't give up either. There's revenge to be had and there's only one true way to get it. But he _knows_ , and he knows that the Omega dragon knows, that the forces of the teachers of Hogwarts, combined with Hiccup's knowledge and Toothless aim and an Auror, there's no chance that the Omega dragon can win. There's simply too much firepower on their side and even if the spells don't penetrate the hide, they're still wearing the dragon down. And even if it does disable or kill every last one of them, the students are safe, the castle is a solid block of brick and it has nothing to win by gaining this ground as its territory. Berk is too far away for this territory to be of any use.

So why isn't it escaping?

Hiccup knows, and he fears, that there's one simple reason for that - the Omega dragon has a trick up its sleeve.

When it reappears the same dance resumes. Only this time five teachers get knocked off their brooms as the dragon whips at them with its tail, catching them off-guard. Their descent is magically slowed by those on the ground and Hiccup breathes a little easier when two of them get back on their brooms and join the fray. The Omega dragon _has_ to be getting tired, but it doggedly keeps on attacking.

Hiccup flies alongside Harry and shouts at him. "How big a rock can you create? Or a chain?"

"It'll just disappear from underneath anything we use to trap it!" Harry shouts back, and he's got a point there.

"We've got to try!" Because there's no alternative, other than running away, and that leaves the castle and its thousand students undefended. And Hiccup is _not_ going to cower behind a magical shield in order to keep it out.

Harry slows his Firebolt down to take better aim and summons a thick, metal chain from thin air. It revolves in the air until he points his wand at the Omega dragon's back paw and the chain flies off, wrapping itself around the outstretched limb. The teachers, now aware of this new plan, all move a little slower but shoot chains at the dragon.

The Omega dragon roars defiantly and… starts to glow. The deep purple veins running across its body light up from the inside. For a moment the dragon resembles the heart of a forge. The chains are wrapped tight around it, immobilizing one wing and it spirals down towards the ground, leaving an afterglow behind when Hiccup blinks.

"Shields!" Hiccup calls, not sure whether any of these wizards carry shields. He grabs his from its holder over his shoulder and bends down low over Toothless, placing the round shield plated with Gronckle iron in front of himself and his dragon. He has to stretch out of his saddle to do so, but he also knows that no good comes from a dragon once it starts to glow.

Sure enough a moment later there's the shockwave of an explosion and the links from the chains fly off in all directions. At least one runs into the shield Hiccup's holding and he hopes that the magical shields are as sturdy as his.

When he lifts it and is able to see what had happened and how they're going to deal with it _now_ , he can't help the wave of terror overcoming him.

The Omega dragon is alight with purple, and it's so much like an Alpha's state that his mind instantly flies back to the day he lost his father. The dragon spreads its wings wide and _bellows_. It turns towards Hiccup and Toothless and lowers its head, the glowing purple eyes seeking out both dragon and rider.

A second wave of fear spawns when Toothless tenses up underneath him and goes rigid, his wings flapping only enough to keep him airborne.

"Toothless?" Hiccup asks and bends forward to look his dragon in the eye. The pupils are tiny slits. "No no no no no, not again, c'mon bud, you've beat this before, you can do it again."

Hackett and Danny fly up to meet him. "Alright?" Danny asks curtly, but Hiccup has no time to explain nor answer. Last time his voice brought Toothless back from the Alpha's control, maybe he can do so again. Toothless squirms under the onslaught of his mind, then he bucks.

"W-whoa!" Only Hiccup's experience with dragon riding keeps him in the saddle as Toothless rolls upside down before righting himself again.

Wait a second… Toothless _is_ an Alpha. He needs a distraction to throw off the mind control the Omega dragon is exerting. Hiccup keeps a tight grip on the handlebars with one hand while with the other he grasps around inside the saddlebag for- aha! He pulls the red sweater McGonagall had conjured up for him free from the saddlebag and drapes it across Toothless' face.

"Toothless, focus on my voice. You got this. You're stronger than that Omega. You're the Alpha now, bud." Toothless roars his defiance - against what, the human or the Omega, Hiccup doesn't know. The Night Fury whips his head left and right but Hiccup keeps his eyes covered with the sweater. He keeps on talking, encouraging Toothless to _focus_ , to _listen_ and break free. Slowly, Toothless stops his thrashing. Hiccup puts his hand on top of Toothless' head and a huge grin breaks out across his face when the Night Fury's comforting rumble vibrates in his throat, traveling across his hand. He's back. That was a whole lot quicker than the last time. And with less death.

"Show him what that means," Hiccup says. He doesn't need to look down to see the blue glow start up from inside his dragon, the power radiates off of his Night Fury. Hiccup presses his feet down into the stirrups.

"He's the Alpha?" Danny asks, his eyes wide as the spine ridges on Toothless back glow with the fury of an ancient dragon. The thin line on top of Toothless' head sprouts blue freckles shining with power. "It's not a being," Danny breathes, "it's a state."

Hiccup lets the red sweater flutter down to the ground as Toothless zooms forward. He doesn't need it anymore.

The Omega dragon's plan is thwarted and it growls continuously. It disappears into thin air but Toothless is patient, flying in a wide arc around the battlefield. When the Omega reappears, he's ready. Toothless lets loose six blue-tinged blasts in quick succession, landing all of them. He barrel-rolls into position and shoots off six more from up close. Hiccup smells the sizzling skin of the dragon and those blasts have _got_ to hurt.

The Omega dragon shrieks its pain to the sky and Hiccup keeps a rein on Toothless, making him swerve wide around the enemy. Dragons like this don't go down easy and even a lone Fireworm can kill if pushed hard enough.

Toothless struggles against Hiccup's commands, he whines and the blue glow grows stronger, illuminating Hiccup from down below. He puts a hand on top of the head of the Night Fury.

"He might pull a weird trick, bud," he says. "Gotta keep our distance. I know you want to _protect_ , but please-"

The Omega dragon does pull a trick. It's imperceptible at first, but when viewed from further away it's obvious that there's something going on. The dragon doesn't even bother dodging the various red jets of spells that still get flung its way, because the vortex behind it sucks them in like boats into a whirlpool.

The lines of reality blur behind the great dragon. The trees inside the forest lengthen, their branches reaching into the sky for a hundred feet. The clouds scatter as the dragon roars. Faster and faster the lines curl into themselves and the sound appears as if it's always been there, just ignored for now. It's a thrum, a heartbeat, a whoop-whoop noise like the engine of a ship so large it's created its own dimension. Hiccup's heart follows this beat, it vibrates into his bones and hurts his ears. His eyes tear up at the pressure so that the streaks of witches and wizards fleeing from this phenomenon are impressionistic paintings. Where the vortex touches the tips of the trees they sprout leaves, drop them, they wither and come alive again, as if the seasons themselves are caught inside this magic.

Toothless seems to be holding up better, capable of staying still in the air while time bleeds into a vortex right behind the Omega dragon. The drawing in the book makes sense now - no one who ever witnessed this would forget.

And then things still. There are no more human shouts, dragon roars. There's no flapping, no pressure. Hiccup seeks out the enemy and can no longer look away once he locks eyes with the bedazzling purple ones of the Omega dragon. They consume him, take over his mind, his very being, with a message, an instruction, a summons. It's not in any language he knows, not in Norse, nor English, not the trade pidgin of the pirates or the dialect of the furthest tribes.

This is dragontongue.

A second/eternity later the dragon releases him and sails backwards through the vortex, snapping it shut once the spikes of its tail have cleared the event horizon. The thrum of - what, the sound of the universe? - is slower to fade away. Hiccup pants, all breath knocked out of him by the Omega dragon.

So this is what it's like to be controlled by a stronger mind.

Toothless surges forward and Hiccup has to move with him, instinct stronger than reason at the moment. Methodically he operates the fin to let Toothless go where he wants to go. They sail through where the vortex had been but there's no evidence where it has disappeared to. Frustrated by the disappearance of the enemy, Toothless hisses and spits plasma high up into the sky, the ripples of his blasts traveling past a few teachers.

"How did I ever get you back from that Alpha?" Hiccup asks once he's got some breath back into his body. That force, undeniable, pressed upon his mind, it seared across his soul. It hurt in a way he can't recall, like any deep wound.

"Do you know where it went?" Harry asks once he's within shouting distance.

"Ye- no. No. You?"

"No."

Toothless dances around where the vortex has been some more, but he can't find anything and after a few minutes Hiccup entices him down to the ground. He recognizes exhaustion in his dragon by the beat of his wings, the droop of his ears, and the Night Fury is absolutely _knackered_. The Alpha glow fades away like the embers of a campfire until black hide remains.

XXX

**Glossary**

Grass before breakfast - Duel

A boss time - Great pleasure, nice holiday.


	13. Chapter 13

Toothless yawns wide and Hiccup follows. It's a good yawn which cracks his jaw, one which signals a good night's rest and energy to take on the new day. Toothless follows it up by stretching every claw, every limb, his wings, his tail before rolling over on his side and letting out a deep sigh.

The Alpha state which had so excited the wizard called 'Danny' is tiring to keep up. Hiccup had to barricade the door of their small and temporary lair to keep the man out. After that, Toothless had to shut the window in the man's face while Hiccup was already fast asleep as the wizard tried to climb in. They both flew hard and fast yesterday, and there's a twinge of pain still in the membrane of his right wing.

"Is it _noon_?" Hiccup asks rhetorically. One of those human expressions Toothless doesn't care about. It has something to do with the orb in the sky and it makes his rider fling the blankets aside.

After the battle, there were injuries among the teachers, questions to be answered and students to calm. Hiccup had spent the rest of the day talking, talking, talking until his voice grew hoarse. Toothless spent his day keeping away from Danny, who wanted to prod him with his stick and measure things with silver instruments while making excited noises. Toothless resorted to hiding out in a bathroom where only female humans were allowed, and although Rose had appreciated it, there were some students who walked in, took one look at the Night Fury perched upon two stalls and made an about-turn.

"Why didn't you wake me? Usually you're up and at them at dawn!" Hiccup accuses as he washes himself, hops around the room before dressing. Toothless blows a raspberry at him and turns over once more. He's got to pee and he's hungry, but there's a patch of sunlight falling right across his face and it's the perfect temperature to ignore humans and their accusations for a little while longer.

"I was supposed to meet with Harry and Danny at breakfast but now look- ack!"

Toothless uses his tail to swipe his rider off of his feet and push him up against the Night Fury. He swats the human down with his wing until Hiccup topples over and lands spread-eagled besides the dragon. Toothless makes sure that part of his tail catches the fragile human's head, with their thin necks they're prone to head injuries. The Night Fury croons, rolls over on his belly and puts a paw over Hiccup's chest to keep him there. Now the patch of sunlight warms Hiccup. There's too much _noise_ this early- err- late- in the morning. The black dragon has been beaten back and although Toothless is sure that their paths will cross again - inevitable - for now they've won.

"Tooth _less_ ," Hiccup whines. He makes a futile attempt to push the dragon's paw off of him but finally relents and squints against the bright sunlight streaming across his face. In this light the few freckles Hiccup carries stand out more and Toothless snorts in laughter. Humans have their own camouflage, like the patterns on his own hide.

"We should name that dragon," Hiccup decides, his gaze turned upwards. " _The Omega dragon_ is too long. And impersonal. He's been inside my _head_ , Toothless."

So Hiccup keeps repeating. Toothless heard the same summons but wasn't compelled to act on it immediately. He's been under enough influence from higher beings, now _he_ is the higher being and rules over his life. As long as he has a rider to work his missing tailfin, that is. But he doubts he'll leave Hiccup for the rest of his natural life.

For some reason, Hiccup was quite shaken from hearing a summons in dragontongue. Toothless doesn't understand, but he helps in the only ways he knows - eliminating distractions and/or annoying wizards, letting the formidable mind of his rider settle, here, in the sunlight, before Hiccup runs off again to talk in that strange language and come back all unsettled.

"Yay or nay, Toothless. Dagr. Ugh, nay, too much like Dagur. Skadi. No, she's female. And I _think_ this dragon is male. Lofn? ... I'll come around to that."

Toothless shakes his head at the names. Some of them sound familiar, the characters in the stories the Vikings tell each other at campfires. Gobber is one of those who tells the children about Thor and Loki, about Skrymir's deceit and the start of this entire world. He also talks about how it'll all end, when Fenrir the giant wolf shows up.

Hiccup's mind drifts in this same direction.

"Sun-eater," he says and Toothless lifts his paw from Hiccup's chest in a clear indication that that's a much more fitting name than 'Omega dragon'. That's a description what it is, not _who_ it is. "Gonna let me run off now?" Hiccup asks as he works himself to his elbows. Toothless grumbles and gets to his feet as well. There are some lingering aches in his muscles that will disappear in a few hours but right now he's a bit sore so he walks gingerly towards the door. Hiccup scrambles to his feet and opens it for him. The doors leading outside, Toothless can open himself. His rider takes his face in his hands and rubs circles into his cheeks with his thumbs.

"I'll get you some breakfa- lunch after I'm done with Harry and Danny, alright?"

Toothless nuzzles into Hiccup's hand and steps into the frigid winter air. He's gonna visit the large, kind man called Hagrid who doesn't speak a word Toothless understands, but he doles out fish and knitted pink sweaters and therefore Toothless likes him.

They're gonna be flying out later today, maybe tomorrow, Toothless knows. He's heard the summons, and there's not a force in the world that will keep Hiccup from visiting Berk.

XXX

Maybe it's the growling sounds coming from Hiccup's stomach, but the small guy is fierce. He offers little explanation why the Omega dragon fled all of a sudden, where it came from, what it wanted. He insists on one thing only.

"He told me to get to Berk. _How_ to get to Berk."

"But dragons can't _talk_ ," Danny objects for the third time. Hiccup throws his hands up into the air, throwing the man a dirty look in the same gesture.

"You yourself explained dragontongue to me! This was dragontongue - _proper_ dragontongue, and I understood it perfectly. Also, normal dragons do say things, you just got to learn to pick up on it."

Harry cuts into this discussion before it picks up steam and turn into another lecture from Hiccup how these modern wizards don't understand nor appreciate dragonkind. He circles the area on the map in front of them where Berk is supposed to be. They're inside an old classroom and the nostalgia is becoming cloying. He'd used this classroom to practice for the Triwizard tournament before McGonagall gave him permission to use hers.

"I'm fine with going to Berk, I'm just not fine with you going _alone_. That dragon was strong."

Hiccup gestures outside, where Toothless usually roams. "Did you not see my dragon? He injured that … Sun-eater! Also, it didn't sound like it wants to do us any harm. It wants to show us something. I think." He adds "I hope," under his breath. His gaze turns firm as he looks from Danny to Harry and back. "We know how to handle ourselves. We've done this before, and we'll do it again."

"You can handle yourself against a dragon which literally travels in time. You really think you can go up against the dragon which put an entire archipelago behind an impenetrable shield which would take at least twenty-five skilled wizards and witches to put up and maintain." Danny's objection turns Hiccup's resolution into a decision. He's going.

"We won't have to go up against it," Hiccup says. "We were _invited_."

The way he says it makes the next words on Harry's tongue die a sudden death. Hiccup speaks English thanks to a spell, but he's still a being from a thousand years in the past, raised on an isolated island. There was much more emphasis on hospitality in the past, especially in cultures where getting turned away at the door might mean certain death.

"Do dragons have honor?" he muses out loud. Hiccup smiles.

"They do hold grudges."

Harry takes a moment to think. Danny seizes that silence to start in on question number one of his long list of 'if an Alpha is a state of being, how where why whatfor explain from the beginning and skip no details'.

"Here's what we're gonna do," Harry interrupts in the middle of Danny's sentence. "Toothless is not going anywhere, Danny," he soothes the ruffled feathers of the other wizard when he glares at Harry.

"What if the Omega dragon kidnaps them?" Danny challenges.

"Here's what we're gonna do," Harry repeats at a louder volume. "You show us how to get through the shield. We wait outside and if you don't come back after, say, one hour, then we come after you."

"The area is ten days of flight wide. If Berk is the center, it'll take five days." Hiccup circles the area on his map. If Hermione gets her hands on this hand-drawn map, she'd turn it over to an archaeologist within a heartbeat and Hiccup would never see it again. As far as Harry's concerned, it's a look inside the dragon rider's mind. The coastlines he's painstakingly drawn seem to be accurate, even if they carry names likes 'fishboat island' and 'itchy armpit'. These two are explorers, used to being out on their own.

"We give you two hours inside to orient yourself, you come back outside and tell us how long you think you'll be gone," Harry says.

Hiccup gets up from the chair and holds out his hand for Harry to shake. "Deal," he says, grasping Harry's forearm instead of going for the shake, but he lets go after a second. "Now I've got to go feed a hungry dragon. And myself."

Danny leaves next, grumbling about being denied to do research and Aurors thinking they run the show and stubborn Vikings, leaving Harry to roll up the map and stuff their notes back into folders. It's so similar to cleaning up homework that it brings back actual pangs of pain as he remembers those long nights of revision right before their OWLs.

Hogwarts hasn't changed. Every year he gives a guest lecture during History of Magic to talk about Voldemort, about the war, about the way muggleborn wizards and witches were treated during those dark years. He's glad to see that every year the revulsion on the faces of the students grow when he talks about the blood purity the Deah Eaters revered.

But every time he comes back he's hit with first and foremost the _smell_ of Hogwarts. It awakens random memories inside of him whenever he tastes the metal of a suit of armor on his tongue, the fires burning in the hallways leave him with phantom shivers of the coldest winter he lived through.

Sure, some of the portraits have changed, the books are new, but the students still use quills and parchment, they still complain about the workload and argue about their love lives.

"It suits you," says a familiar voice coming from the doorway of the classroom. Harry looks up and grins wide.

"Neville!"

"Harry!"

The two men embrace each other before Harry goes back to cleaning up the debris of their short meeting.

"What suits me?" he asks.

"Being at the front of a classroom. Professor Potter, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. That's what suits you better than Auror Potter."

Harry sobers up and all reminiscence of the pleasant days at the lake flee at the mention of the dark arts. "We've been over this, Neville," he says impatiently. "I haven't learned enough to become anyone's teacher. These kids need someone like... like Moody, not 'Potter who stumbled into things way over his head and made it out alive somehow'."

Neville helps pack away the notes and huffs. "You ran Dumbledore's Army. You defeated the darkest wizard of our time. If _anyone_ is qualified, it's you. But you choose to continue the fight, became an Auror, but I still don't understand _why_. Hermione and Ron don't understand why, I don't even think _you_ know."

Harry keeps his head down low and doesn't respond at once, even though he wants to snap at Neville that it's not his concern whether or not Harry likes his job. It's been a long and hard road to become an Auror. Tonks hadn't been kidding about the stealth exams he had to endure. But McGonagall helped him, Hermione pulled him through the difficult spellwork and Ginny practiced endlessly alongside him. He was not going to tell anyone that, after he'd passed all of the numerous exams and gotten his assignments, he realized something during his fifth solo mission.

He is _done_. Tired of tracking down what remains of Voldemort's army, catching the ones who tortured muggles, saving people, hunting things. He's had to endure that from age eleven up to the day he literally died at the tender age of seventeen.

But he isn't going to let down all those who'd helped him become an Auror. So he trudges on, becoming good at his job because he's a natural at it. The visions of himself running a broom-shop, of trying out as Seeker for the Chudley Cannons even though they had no hope of winning, of, yes, becoming the DADA-teacher at Hogwarts, he puts those away under lock and key and begins the search for the next Death Eater to escape during the battle of Hogwarts.

"I do it because, because..." _You have that protective streak._ "Because there are still dark wizards out there."

Neville's hand lands on Harry's shoulder. "There will always _be_ dark wizards. Let others catch them, you've done enough."

Harry doesn't look Neville in the eye. "Even if if I wanted to, the job's gone," he says. Neville smiles.

"I think that if the 'famous Harry Potter' wants a job at Hogwarts, McGonagall will create one for you. Or maybe the next headmaster. She's retiring next year."

This time Harry makes eye contact with Neville. "Really? Who's gonna be the next one?"

"C'mon, we'll catch each other up during lunch. Three Broomsticks? My treat!"

Harry deposits the notes and map into the empty office he's claimed as his own and follows Neville out into the grounds. Even the grass smells the same. He never wants to leave.

XXX

In Hiccup's lifetime he's helped rebuilt many huts. The harsh winds and endless winters do a number on the stone - but it was mostly dragons that burnt down their hard-won foothold on the islands. When they made peace, huts stayed upright longer and longer, the occasional incident with Monstrous Nightmares notwithstanding. He's seen docks rot away in the salty sea, ropes snap when they finally give in during a storm. Berk is a verb, not a noun, always in progress, to build, replace, expand.

Age has not been kind to this process.

With no humans to keep the huts upright they've all devolved into rubble. Toothless lands in what used to be the square and Hiccup slides off his dragon, his heart somewhere at the bottom of his stomach. It physically hurts to look at the remains of his village. When did the last Viking leave? When was the last time someone grabbed a bucket from the well to water their dragon, what happened to the yaks they tended? How long until decay began to set in?

Grass and moss have eaten away the square and the only evidence that there was ever a village here is some loose rubble and small mounds of grass surrounding the square. Everything wooden - the bridges and walkways, the arches and dragon mounts - has disintegrated with zero evidence of ever having existed. Hiccup starts walking towards what would've been the Great Hall and Toothless follows closely, whining at this vivid reminder that everybody they've ever known have been dead for a thousand years.

"It's okay, Toothless, we get to go home. Soon." His voice is thick but he walks on, stepping on what he knows to be the path, letting his memory guide him. It's not like the grass growing over the stones will tell him where to go.

The Great Hall is a bit better preserved. Hiccup sees one or two stone steps leading up to the heap. Grey stones lie in a square, the thatched roof has scattered by now. Hiccup walks on top of the rubble, counting his steps under his breath and trying to picture the Great Hall in his mind's eye. He turns right, and he stands in front of the pedestal containing the Book of Dragons. Hiccup drops to his knees and begins to dig.

Wordlessly Toothless aids him, the Night Fury's claws much more efficient at dislodging the rocks than Hiccup's human hands. Together they drill through the outer layers until Hiccup has an idea. He stops frantically digging into the collapsed walls of what had once been part of his home village and turns to his dragon.

"Could you shout at the stones and find-" he stops himself from talking and reaches for the saddlebags. The map he uses is parchment, maybe, just maybe- he's not even sure why he's looking for the Book of Dragons in the first place. He knows every line written in there, he's added a lot himself, in fact. He holds up the map for Toothless to shout at so the Night Fury knows what he's looking for. His dragon shouts, learns the sound he should expect, sticks his head in the hole they've dug and roars his echolocation. Toothless raises his head and shakes it, squeezing his eyes shut. He tries again, angling his head a little. Six tries later and still no success. Hiccup starts digging again.

Maybe he's looking for evidence that Berk had been real, had existed, had made an impact somehow. Everything he's worked for - still works for - and all he has to show for it is rubble and rot.

It wouldn't make sense for the Book of Dragons to still be on its pedestal. Somebody must've taken it with them when they left Berk, books are too valuable to leave behind. Maybe they destroyed it to stop it from getting into the hands of any dragon hunters.

Thin drops of blood well up to the surface of his hands as the cuts from the stones push through the dirt coating his hands.

There has to be _something_ Hiccup recognizes from his village, some timeless piece, something which has endured, like gold or gronckle iron or a stone. A slab. Toothless' bed.

"C'mon!" Hiccup yells and Toothless scrambles backwards, startled. He's quick to run after the one-legged Viking. Hiccup tries not to look at the huts of his friends and runs by Astrid's old hut with a pang in his heart but he's got to get proof that this Berk is _his_ Berk. He scrambles up the hill leading towards his hut, the chief's hut. Where he'd spent many eternal nights, doodling ideas for contraptions, working the small smithy to hone his skills, where he'd burnt his father's bed because while he'd inherited the hut and it would be foolish to waste resources on building a new one, he was not going to sleep in the bed with his father's indentation still visible in the yak hides he slept on.

Astrid had been about to move in with him and Hiccup's pace slows a little. What if he finds her memorial runestone? What if it tells him how she died, where she died?

… What if he finds his own?

The shadows seem to darken a little and he's glad to have Toothless following in his footsteps. The dragon is as observant as ever and he nudges Hiccup's hand, prompting Hiccup to halt in his tracks and turn around. He bumps his forehead against that of Toothless and takes a deep breath. He's alive, his dragon is alive, and they are so close to going home he tastes Snotlout's stench on his tongue. There's no force on this planet, Omega or not, that's going to hold him back from returning here and making sure that no one will find the village like this.

"A thousand years in the future, Berk will still be here," Hiccup murmurs. A promise. An oath. Toothless licks his face from chin to forehead and Hiccup protests, wiping his face. But then the Night Fury rumbles his own agreement - it's just in his nature to ruin solemn moments.

The urgency to find the slab Toothless slept on had diminished somewhat but still Hiccup walks up to his hut. The layout of the place had been expanded, he notes as he spots the lines of eroded stone forming several squares. Like with the other huts there's nothing but stone, maybe some rusted metal here and there - that's an anvil. There's still an anvil in his house and it makes Hiccup smile.

"Burn the ground, Toothless," he instructs as he steps aside, placing himself at a safe distance. The slab can withstand great heat and rough handling - Toothless sprays it every night with plasma hot enough to ignite grass two feet from the blast. It's the reason Hiccup got the slab in the first place. He can fry an egg on it if he wants to - and he's done so in the past when he was too lazy to find a skillet.

The Night Fury inhales and spits, scattering the brittle stones everywhere and no doubt angering innumerable archeologists if they would ever find out about this sacrilege. He blasts a few more times, carving out the packed earth. There's a small basement underneath the hut, Hiccup knows, although by now it's been filled with debris. The stones from the hearth still form a loose oval but Toothless' next blast scatters those as well.

Toothless' slab had been on the first floor, so when the hut collapsed, it should be at the upper edge.

The Night Fury is at his blast limit though, so Hiccup steps forward and begins shifting debris, looking for the telltale gleam of black. There's only earth and grey stone and Hiccup wishes he'd brought a shovel along. Toothless is decent at moving the stones but right now he needs a Gronckle. He works until Toothless has recharged his plasma.

"Again," Hiccup commands, climbing out of the small hole Toothless' efforts has created. Six more rapid-fire blasts follow and uncovers so many more rocks. Hiccup starts working once more, throwing stone after stone over the edge of the hole, willing the slab to show up. The future owes him that much, a look at his past, at the village he knows and loves, the village he's defended so many times. He wonders what made them all leave. A territorial dragon? Hunters? A Screaming Death? Or had they all moved away because the ground was no longer fertile. A plague, perhaps, sweeping the archipelago and wiping all evidence that there had been a tribe where humans and dragons co-existed from the map.

He remembers the time Astrid fell sick with the Scourge of Odin and tries to put her sickly green face out of his mind. If that disease had shown up after centuries of laying dormant, it can do so once more.

"Again."

Toothless blasts the edges of the hut, widening the hole instead of deepening it. That's the key, it turns out. Hiccup whoops when he sees the telltale thick, black slab poke out from underneath the stones. Toothless warbles his joy and noses the stones covering the slab away until it's entirely free.

It took three Vikings to carry it up the stairs and into the bedroom so Hiccup doesn't try to move it, he just examines it, sitting back on his haunches.

This means that this village _is_ Berk, that he has lived and died in this world and left no mark. The Omega dragon has sequestered off this piece of the world in order for the dragons to thrive, but Berk and its humans got left behind somehow.

"But we're going to change that," Hiccup says out loud. Now that he knows what's going to come, he can do something about it. Toothless opens his mouth and roars, leans forward and nuzzles into Hiccup's hair. "Hey!" He turns around and hugs his dragon, glad to feel the heat radiating off of him. He looks back at the slab one last time, to make sure that it is- wait.

Hiccup crawls unto the slab and wipes away the dirt and pebbles. There are runes carved into the stone. It's not just Toothless' bed, it's a runestone. Maybe it tells about what has happened to Berk!

Frantically he wipes the entire slab clean with his hands, his tunic. He uses his knife to whip pebbles from the deep grooves and Toothless tries to help as well, picking gravel from the grooves with the tip of his claws. Hiccup doesn't stop until all of the fading runes have been cleaned and he sits back to read the inscription. He's always been a voracious reader, whenever he gets his hands on a book he reads through it in a day, an evening.

But this time his eyes stop moving after the first three words.

_Hér liggja Tandeloos._

Hiccup reaches beside him, finds the dry scales and the rough hide and he turns his back to the stupid slab, hugging Toothless so tight the dragon squirms under the assault.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup whispers. Tootless croons a question and Hiccup slowly lets go, watching his dragon through a misty veil. "It's your grave."

There's a hole in his gut and he wishes for Astrid to round the corner of the rotten square and inform him that it'd been a terrible attack, but now they are going to rebuild. He wants his mother to punch her way up through the buried basement and cough and sit up and be so glad that he's survived for so long.

But all he'll find in this future are runestones for the humans and graves for the dragons, burial mounds and rubble. Berk has been destroyed and even though he knows that in his reality, his past, his village thrives, right here is indisputable proof that everything and everyone that he knows will one day walk through the doors of Valhalla and leave this mortal Midgard behind.

He doesn't read the rest of the runestone. He's standing on top of the bones of his best friend and he wants _out_ before Toothless' blasts unearth something he _really_ doesn't want to see.

"Let's go, Toothless," he says, letting his hands linger on the warm ear flaps, the very definition of _alive_ , as he walks up to the saddle.

He knows where to find Sun-eater now. If it isn't in the square or at his (former?) house, there's only one more place to look. He hops up on Toothless and it takes all of six beats of the Night Fury's wing before they land inside the pit of rubble of what used to be the dragon training academy.

He senses Sun-eater land behind them before he sees it. It's a vantablack shape against the backdrop of ocean and clouded sky, with its purple eyes trained on them both. Hiccup dismounts slowly, still not sure whether he trusts the dragon. If it's untrustworthy, it's _so_ much better to be on the back of a dragon.

But Toothless doesn't growl, he merely looks. He's not friendly, but neutral. That's good enough for Hiccup.

"Hi," he says.

Sun-eater has licked its wounds in the meantime. There are patches of shiny scales where Toothless' blasts had landed, nearly invisible against the blackness of its form, but from this up close they're visible.

Most dragons roar, squawk or chirp in reply to a friendly greeting (or they attack, but that is another subset of dragons). Sun-eater's reply drives Hiccup to his knees with the intensity.

"Hellorider there's somuch to tell this is Alpha need Alpha this remains Berk if you stayhere youneed to stay need Alpha you need to go make Berkthrive where didyou come from."

Hiccup cries out and grabs his head, the voice pounding through it like a headache. It's not so much _words_ that are used in dragontongue, not like Hiccup uses it. It's a language of pictures and emotions, strung together to get across meaning. They flit across his mind's eye and press their ideas into his brain, crowding out the ones already occupying it.

Toothless jumps in front of Hiccup and snarls at Sun-eater.

"No no, Toothless, it's alright!" Hiccup says, one hand stretched towards his dragon as if he can command him from a distance, the other pressed over his eyes, squeezing the skin of his forehead. It takes a few moments for his head to stop ringing. He reaches out for Toothless and finds the scales under his questing hand. The entire being rumbles with protective anger and Hiccup clumsily pats the dragon before he deems it safe to remove his hand.

Sun-eater cocks its head and before it can say anything else Hiccup interrupts.

"Please don't _shout_. It hurts my... everything. It's not like I'm a hundred feet away. Also, slow down. I'm only human."

A much better tolerable sentence follows, although it still makes his ears ring and his eyes water. This time the images Sun-eater sends his way don't all overlap each other but he makes out distinct ones, although they flit by faster than his conscious mind follows, so it's like the images move.

It goes lick, Hiccup, Alpha-powered Toothless, ocean, several islands in quick succession, an eroding mountain getting worn down to a hill.

If Hiccup had to put it into words, he'd come up with "Hello rider, where did you and an Alpha come from? Alpha's haven't been around for a long, long time."

"You're not the only one that wants an Alpha. But Toothless is not a Bewildebeast, not really an Alpha species. The wizards, the seidr-people, they made a mistake and brought us here from the past. They were going to send us back but something, you, stops us. Why?"

The next set of images all convey a single thing. Fire and ice. Brown leaves, lush green ones. A Nadder and a fish. Next come a long line of white dragons, each of them a different shade of white and all of them as regal as the Bewildebeast Hiccup had met. The line breaks and then there's he black Omega dragon occupying the space where there should be a white one.

Gronckles need a counterweight, a Night Fury needs fins, and an Omega needs an Alpha to balance him out. And this one hasn't been able to find one for centuries, maybe longer. Until now, when he found an Alpha hiding among those pesky stick-wielding humans.

It's Hiccup's turn to feel protective. "You're not taking Toothless away from me," he snaps at once, sidling closer to his dragon. Toothless in turn curls his tail around Hiccup and bunches up like a cat, raising his hackles and wings.

"I'm not," assures the dragon through a quick shake of the head and the image of an eel. Toothless relaxes a bit, and Hiccup with him. He has no idea if Sun-eater can lie. It's intelligent enough for it.

what do you want with us?"

The images are too fast for Hiccup's conscious mind to follow but he's starting to get the hang of translating the pictures into sentences his spell-addled brain can interpret and slice into a voice instead of it getting pressed into his soul. It still feels like he's standing at the mouth of Berk's horn of calling.

"I need an Alpha, even an untrained one" - Bewildebeast white bleeding into Night Fury blue image- order to travel back to the place where two were lost. I will bring one back" - the vortex, overlaying the Forbidden Forest- "before repairing the damage you created." Berk, in all its glory, Vikings living and dying in the huts until the last one leaves and it decays, stone crumbling under the pressure of time.

Toothless whines at the sight of the gored body of the Bewildebeast as it flies past. Hiccup has to swallow to digest what the dragon wants of them. But then the third last image makes his thoughts stutter to a halt.

"Damage?" he asks.

The response is a gaggle of humans wielding sticks, wearing pointy hats.

"Your _seidr-practitioners_ began to take my flock of dragons. So I hid them. They're _mine_."

Sun-eater snarls and Hiccup throws up his hands to placate the dragon. "Hey, relax, I'm sure they meant well." He thinks for a second. "Or they tried to make dragon hide gloves. Either way - I'm sorry for what they did, but I'm not with them."

There's a new image that Sun-eater shows him. It's hard to see what exactly it is. It looks a bit like the inside of a storm, no, a waterspout. There are clouds broiling and lightning jumps from one side to the other with no discernible pattern. But somehow amidst the fluff of the clouds there are jagged cracks superimposed over the waterspout, staying in place even as the direction inside the spout changes. There are dozens of cracks, some small, some large. It's hard to make out any scale with no horizon and nothing to measure against.

"A dragon has fallen through every crack, drawn to you because you are not in the time you are supposed to be in."

"And whose fault is that?" Hiccup quips before he can stop himself. Rhetorical questions are out of Sun-eater's repertoire because the same image of the wizards gets fed to him. Hiccup shakes his head.

"They would've let me go back ages ago. But you've kept me here." Before the dragon can reply Hiccup continues. "But if we help you, somehow, will you allow the wizards to send us, and I mean my entire flock, back?"

"I will take you back myself," Sun-eater assures him. "I will take you to the day after they ripped you from Berk. Because you _must_ go back."

Let it never be said that Hiccup passed up an opportunity to learn. "Why?" he asks simply as if he were a four-year old child.

The large dragon stretches its wings and swings its head around, indicating the pile of rubble they're standing on. All that remains of the dragon training academy is moss and stone, not even a runestone to commemorate all that has happened here. The chain dome has rusted away into nothing under the harsh winters and salty winds over the endless sea.

"This is what happens to Berk if you remain here, in this time where you do not belong."

The harsh cold of winter seems to become a bit warmer and Toothless' ear flaps perk up.

"You mean... Change the fate of my village? I can challenge the Nornir?"

Even a dragon as large as Sun-eater can smile a toothy smile. It's frightening to behold but Hiccup understands the mirth behind it. "Yes, your goddesses of fate haven't decided the final destiny of Berk."

Hiccup looks down at the moss covering rough rock. Things don't have to end up like this. Maybe in a thousand years this island will have cars on its own, driving alongside dragons.

"I will help you," he says, looking up sharply into those glowing purple eyes. "But I can't heal a Bewildebeast on my own. I'm gonna need some help."

XXX

**Minutes of emergency Wizengamot meeting on Januari 5th, 2019.**

_Participants:_ all members of the former committee regarding Timeturners, headed by Sir Tabogan.

_Topic:_ permission for time travel.

_Case presenter:_ Hiccup Haddock the third from the Hairy clan, alongside his tamed dragon named Toothless (species: Night Fury. Classification: unknown). Special permission was given by Sir Tabogan for the dragon to be present - see form 12-PB attached to these minutes.

Harry James Potter, Danny Cormac Leary and Clarence Clearwater respectively represent the Auror office, the Department of Mysteries and Department of Control of

**Hogwarts and Berk**

Mr. Haddock explains the reason for the recent dragon attack on Hogwarts (no injuries reported). 'Sun-eater'(species: Omega dragon. Classification: XXXXXX) is looking for a companion and thought it'd found one in Mr. Toothless. Mr. Haddock and Mr. Toothless have traveled to the hometown of Mr. Haddock, Berk (location: area around Bear Island, Norway) to 'hear the dragon out'. See attached a map of this area.

The Wizengamot accepts these facts to be true.

**Alpha and Omega**

Mr. Leary cuts in to explain the difference between the type of Alpha dragon Mr. Toothless is and the type of Alpha dragon a 'Bewildebeast' is (species: unknown. Classification: unknown). He explains that an Omega needs an Alpha to function and that the Omega dragon species is the source of Timeturners. The Wizengamot asks for clarification regarding these statements. The transcript of this discussion is attached from page 13 through 119.

The Wizengamot breaks for lunch.

**Dragontongue**

Mr. Haddock explains that he can talk to this and other dragons using 'dragontongue', a linguistic ability similar to Parseltongue. Before the Wizengamot can ask for clarification Mr. Haddock presents his main point.

**Reasons why the Wizengamot should permit Mr. Haddock and Mr. Toothless to bring along a small team to the past to rescue one of two eligible Alphas and bring it back to the present as presented by Mr. Haddock**

a) The Omega dragon species needs an Alpha;

b) The Bewildebeast Alpha can do much good for the dragon population of the Northern hemisphere - 'it is the king of all dragons';

c) The Omega dragon will bring Mr. Haddock and Mr. Toothless back to their proper time;

d) The Bewildebeast Alpha deserves to be rescued instead of dying on a beach at the hands of a man who thinks he can own a dragon using nothing but fear and chains;

e) No more dragons from history will fall through cracks in time and terrorize the students of Hogwarts;

f) 'Seriously, next time it's gonna be a Screaming Death that pops up';

g) They have been here long enough, it is time to go back;

h) Both Mr. Haddock and Mr. Toothless have a chance to fight the Nornir (Norse gods controlling the fates of men) and make sure that Berk survives for a thousand years;

i) Mr. Haddock has sworn an oath that he will make that happen but he needs to be back home to ensure it;

j) The Omega dragon has shown Mr. Haddock that there are cracks in the foundation of time because of the displacement brought on by the Department of Mysteries. These cracks might widen and start swallowing up pieces of history, people, and things if not brought back into balance by both

  a. Taking Mr. Haddock and Mr. Toothless back to their proper time and place

  b. Allowing the Omega dragon to connect with an Alpha dragon;

k) It is the right thing to do.

**Decision**

After convening for four hours the Wizengamot decides to grant Mr. Haddock and Mr. Toothless permission under the following conditions:

1) The Alpha remains within the sealed-off archipelago;

2) The Omega dragon creates seven (7) Timeturners for the wizarding community;

3) The Omega dragon keeps his seal on the archipelago but will allow three (3) dragonologists inside for study;

4) Mr. Haddock and Mr. Toothless go back to their own time after the mission and remain there for the rest of their natural lives;

5) If possible, Mr. Haddock takes the dragons that have appeared thus far with him.

**Note:**

This decision of the Wizengamot disregards articles one through ten of the International Time-travel Law, est. 1456 and can not be used for any amendments to this law in court. Under article 87 this is the sole exception to this law, colloquially described as 'time travel to repair time'.

XXX

An Auror, a Healer, a dragonologist, a rider and a Night Fury walk into Berk. The Auror asks "so where's the Omega dragon?" The Night Fury sniffs the air and leads them into the overgrown square, where the large vantablack dragon lays with its head tucked under its wing. It's not as imposing when it's dozing but the second the purple eyes show up, Harry squeezes his broom extra hard. He glances sideways at Hannah to make sure she's alright with staring down a deadly reptile.

"You're taking my wife a thousand years into the past, Harry," Neville had said before they had all grabbed the Portkey. "Look after her." It was more a command than a request, but it's one Harry is more than willing to oblige. Hogwarts needs its matron back, and he doesn't need another reason to be able to spot Thestrals.

"It says hello," Hiccup states, wincing a little. He gets back up on Toothless and the others mount their brooms. While Harry would've preferred Hookfang to come along - dragon versus dragon end a lot better if you have _two_ dragons on your side - but Charlie is not as experienced on Hookfang as he should be. Not enough to fly out into chaos. Without another word the Omega dragon launches into the air.

"Wait!" Hiccup instructs in a loud voice, hands out flat with the palm down. "He needs to create a … door."

From this up close the sound of the vortex is terrifying, rattling Harry's teeth. The grassy mounds caught up in the vortex assemble themselves into huts before they start decaying again, following this cycle over and over. There are shades of people in there, blurred by the rapid passage of time. Vikings, and Harry's sure that Hiccup would be able to recognize them if they hold still long enough. A thousand years is nothing. How old is the Omega dragon?

"You sure we can survive in there?" he yells. Maybe the vortex will strip the flesh from their bones. The relatively safe method of Apparating can be deadly on its own, let alone traveling through an unknown magical construct designed for and used by dragons whose hides can repel the deadliest of curses.

Hiccup stays silent for an awfully long time before he shouts back. The sound should become tangible, or at the least visible as wavy lines in the air. Reality makes a jump to the left and it sets Harry's carefully harnessed Auror instincts ablaze. This is Danger.

"Pretty sure!" Hiccup replies. Toothless' ear flaps are pressed to his skull.

"Silencio!" Harry tries, but such a tiny spell is useless in the face of actual, reality-warping dragon magic. The spell, which should be invisible, comes out as a white bubble. It floats in the air for a few seconds before it pops.

Hiccup leans forward and Toothless tenses, wings spreading out. Harry grabs his broomstick and watches the others do the same. He's gonna go deaf in a minute if this keeps up. The unpleasant buzz of unfamiliar magic presses up against his own but he pushes off the ground when Hiccup yells "now!"

The vortex is a full-grown entity above them, multicolored lines crawling over each other like worms in the stomach of a bird. Maybe it'll suck out their magic, just like it did with the Silencio spell. But Harry's made his choice. He tries not to think about getting eaten as they plunge through, Hiccup first.

The second they cross the threshold the sound stops. They're inside a cloud. A fluffy blue one, whirling all around them in all directions.

"Stay close to the dragon!" Hiccup warns. "If you fall behind..." He doesn't need to finish the warning, the grimace on his face says enough. Harry sticks close to Toothless, with Hannah on the other side of the Night Fury. The dragon coasts on invisible thermals.

So this is what it's like to be inside a Timeturner. He vividly remembers the jolt of _wrong_ when Hermione took him to the past, but that feeling is multiplied many times over the longer they travel.

The Omega dragon leads the way, turning left and right at times. In front of them the clouds always open up just wide enough to let them through and behind them they collapse into themselves, showing their passing but nothing more. The clouds are lit from within but even so occasionally a lightning bolt passes them by. The first one makes Hannah jump but she stays seated. A blue box whizzes past, too fast to make out any details.

In the distance? In the past? … In front of them there's another vortex. Harry steels himself for the thrumming sound to return as they pour out of the portal and into war.


End file.
